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FACING    THE    CRISIS 

A  STUDY  IN  PRESENT  DAY  SOCIAL 
AND  RELIGIOUS  PROBLEMS 


BY 

SHERWOOD  EDDY 


ASSOCIATION  PRESS 

NEW  YORK 

GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    1922, 
BY  GEORGE   H.  DOR  AN   COMPANY. 


FACING  THE  CRISIS.   1 
PRINTED  IN   THE   UNITED  STATES  OF   AMERICA 


TO 

M.  L.  E. 
M.  H.  E. 
M.  M.  E. 


2135271 


The  Fondren  Lectures 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  W.  Fondren,  members  of  St.  Paul's 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Houston,  Texas,  gave 
to  Southern  Methodist  University  on  May  10,  1910,  a  fund, 
the  proceeds  from  which  were  to  be  used  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Fondren  Lectures  on  Christian  Missions. 
The  following  paragraphs  from  the  conditions  of  the  original 
gift  will  set  forth  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  Foundation. 

"The  interest  on  the  investment  shall  be  used  annually  in 
procuring  some  competent  person  to  deliver  lectures  on 
Christian  Missions  under  the  auspices  of  Southern  Methodist 
University.  This  fund  is  dedicated  to  the  foundation  of  a 
lectureship  on  Christian  Missions  in  consideration  of  other 
donations  made  for  the  upbuilding  of  Southern  Methodist 
University,  and  especially  the  School  of  Theology  thereof 
and  in  the  hope  that  something  of  good  may  come  directly 
therefrom  and  that  others  more  able  to  give  largely  may  be 
inspired  to  devote  some  portion  of  the  means  which  they 
hold  in  trust  as  stewards  of  the  Lord  to  the  increase  of 
said  fund  or  to  some  other  laudable  enterprise  of  our 
church." 


FOREWORD 

We  are  facing  a  crisis  in  the  world  today.  There 
have  been  crises  in  the  past  and  doubtless  there  will 
be  again  in  the  future.  But  we  are  confronted  with 
an  unprecedented  situation  in  our  war-torn  world. 
The  late  war  has  left  us  rent  and  divided  in  three 
great  cleavages  of  humanity,  in  national,  racial  and 
industrial  strife.  Almost  every  nation  is  demanding 
self-determination;  every  race  is  claiming  its  equal 
and  rightful  place  in  the  brotherhood  of  man;  every 
class,  especially  the  industrial  toilers  of  the  world, 
demanding  economic  freedom  and  a  more  abundant 
life.  We  are  standing  at  the  beginning  of  a  new 
creative  epoch  in  history,  in  a  vast  period  of  transi- 
tion from  the  old  order  to  the  new.  An  old  mate- 
rialistic order  of  selfish  privilege  and  competitive 
force,  an  order  of  imperialism,  congested  capitalism 
and  militarism,  breaking  out  periodically  into  overt 
war,  is  lying  in  wreckage  all  about  us.  But  the 
building  of  a  new  order  has  already  begun. 

There  is  a  crisis  in  our  national  and  international 
affairs.  Is  war  to  threaten  our  final  civilization  or 
is  it  to  be  outlawed?  There  is  a  crisis  in  our  indus- 
trial life.  The  writer  on  his  last  journey  around 
the  world  found  strikes  in  Japan,  China,  India, 
Egypt  and  throughout  Europe,  but  he  returned  to 
find  over  three  thousand  a  year  in  America.  What 
is  the  meaning  of  this  world-wide  industrial  unrest? 


viii  FOREWORD 

There  is  a  crisis  in  our  race  relationships.  The 
trouble  in  India,  Egypt  and  other  lands  has  its 
roots  in  racial  as  well  as  in  national  antipathy.  There 
is  a  new  race  consciousness  observable  since  the  war 
throughout  almost  the  whole  of  Asia  and  it  is  now 
spreading  in  Africa.  The  United  States  with  her 
problem  of  immigration  and  an  average  of  two 
lynchings  a  week  or  about  a  hundred  a  year,  must 
face  this  challenge  of  the  unsolved  race  problem. 

There  is  a  crisis  in  our  religious  life.  We  have 
made  far  more  rapid  advance  in  scientific  discov- 
eries in  the  material  realm  than  in  our  spiritual  life. 
The  war  has  revealed  fundamental  seams  of  weak- 
ness in  our  civilization.  We  must  rethink  our  posi- 
tion, restate  our  faith  in  terms  of  modern  thought, 
and  endeavor  to  reconcile  the  undoubted  and  incon- 
trovertible facts  of  experience  in  the  realm  of 
religion  and  of  science.  This  book  is  a  plea  that 
we  face  this  crisis  fearlessly  and  honestly,  proving 
all  things  and  holding  fast  the  good,  the  true  and 
the  beautiful. 

There  is  a  crisis  also  in  the  life  of  every  individual, 
who,  facing  the  challenge  of  our  turbulent  times,  is 
forced  to  make  the  transition  from  the  medieval  to 
the  modern  point  of  view. 

At  the  Des  Moines  Convention  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  where  some  seven  thousand 
students  from  a  thousand  institutions  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  had  assembled,  the  crisis  created 
by  the  war  was  evident  in  one  meeting  where  scores 
of  questions  were  asked  on  the  vital  religious, 
social  and  industrial  problems  which  these  students 
were  facing.    The  meeting  was  of  such  interest  that 


FOREWORD  ix 

the  experiment  was  tried  in  various  colleges  of  this 
country  and  later  in  meetings  for  students  in  other 
lands  as  well.  It  was  then  that  this  strange  fact 
was  observed.  We  found  that  the  students  are  ask- 
ing practically  the  same  round  of  questions  in  every 
college,  in  every  country  today.  In  the  state  universi- 
ties of  this  country;  in  Cairo,  or  Assuit  on  the  Upper 
Nile,  in  Turkey;  in  Bulgaria,  Czechoslovakia,  Ger- 
many, or  Sweden;  in  America,  Europe  or  Asia  we 
find  students  facing  the  same  great  questions.  Many 
of  these  are  the  persistent  problems  that  have  always 
beset  and  baffled  the  human  mind.  Yet  some  face 
a  new  world  with  a  fresh  challenge  in  this  period 
of  reconstruction  and  of  striving  for  the  creation  of 
a  new  social  order.  Many  are  demanding  today  2 
reinterpretation  of  old  beliefs  and  a  restatement  of 
all  our  thinking  in  modern  terms. 

When  asked  to  deliver  the  Fondren  Lectures  at 
the  Southern  Methodist  University  at  Dallas  in 
1922,  and  later,  the  Sturtevant  Lectures  at  Alle- 
gheny College  in  Meadville,  Pennsylvania,  it  seemed 
that  no  better  theme  could  be  chosen  than  "Facing 
the  Crisis,"  to  endeavor  to  answer  briefly  the  ques- 
tions of  the  hour  that  were  actually  being  asked  by 
the  students  themselves.  They  seemed  to  be  indeed 
issues  of  universal  interest,  not  alone  to  students 
but  to  all  thinking  men  who  have  to  face  the  prob- 
lems of  our  day. 

The  questions  asked  fall  naturally  into  two  groups : 
1.  Religious  and  Philosophical;  2.  Social  and  Indus- 
trial. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  the  brief  space  of  one  short 


x  FOREWORD 

volume  all  these  great  questions  cannot  be  exhaus- 
tively or  adequately  discussed. 

The  views  expressed  are  personal  and  unofficial 
and  do  not  represent  those  of  any  organization  or 
denomination,  nor  can  the  writer  speak  as  an 
authority  upon  modern  science,  philosophy,  or 
theology.  For  more  than  twenty-five  years  he  has 
been  working  among  the  students  of  Asia,  America, 
and  Europe,  who  feel  the  pressure  of  these  problems, 
and,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  he  feels  that  they  are 
entitled  to  an  honest  answer  to  their  questions. 

Quotations  from  the  New  Testament  are  prevail- 
ingly made  from  Moffatt's  translation.  As  in  the 
King  James  and  Revised  Versions  pronouns  refer- 
ring to  God  or  Christ  are  not  printed  in  capitals. 
The  writer's  thanks  are  due  to  many  friends  who 
have  generously  read  and  criticized  portions  of  the 
manuscript. 
New  York,  1922. 


CONTENTS 
PART  I:  RELIGIOUS  AND  PHILOSOPHICAL 

PACE 

I    Jesus    Christ — What    Is    His    Signifi- 
cance?         15 

II    God — Does  He  Exist,  How  Can  He  Be 

Found? 47 

III  The  Problem  of  Evil — If  God  Is  Good 

Why  Is  There  Suffering?      ...       65 

IV  Immortality — Is   There  a   Life   after 

Death? 77 

V    Miracles — Have    They    Really    Hap- 
pened?         87 

VI    The  Bible — How  Is  It  Different  from 

Other  Books? 97 

VII    Evolution — Can  We  Reconcile  Science 

and  Religion? 110 

VIII     Prayer — What    Happens    When    We 

Pray? 122 

IX    The  New  Life — How  Does  It  Change  a 

Man? 131 

X    Moral  Mastery — The  Fight  for  Char- 
acter     140 

XI    World  Brotherhood — Is  Our  Religion 

Worth  Exporting? 151 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 


FAGS 


PART  II:     SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL 

XII    Outstanding  National  Problems    .     .  161 

XIII  The  Race  Question 165 

XIV  The  Ethics  of  War 173 

XV    Industrial  Unrest 179 

XVI    Wealth  and  Poverty 182 

XVII    Collectd7e  Bargaining 187 

XVIII    The  Open  or  Closed  Shop      ....  192 

XIX     The  Social  Gospel 198 

XX    The  Christian  Solution 203 

XXI     Motives  and  Objectives 218 

XXII    Conclusion — The  Faith  of  a  Modern 

Christian        224 

Appendices 

I:    The  Fellowship  for  a  Chris- 
tian Social  Order  ....  233 

II:    The     Social     Ideals    of    the 

Churches 235 

III :     Books  on  Current  Social  Prob- 
lems    237 

Index 239 


FACING  THE  CRISIS 


PART  I:   RELIGIOUS  AND 
PHILOSOPHICAL 


JESUS  CHRIST 

Who  was  Jesus  Christ?  What  is  his  significance 
as  we  face  the  present  crisis?  Was  he  in  any  sense 
divine?  Was  he  unique,  as  the  supreme  manifes- 
tation of  God? 

Let  us  study  in  turn  his  character,  his  teaching, 
his  unique  relationships,  the  historic  effects  of  his 
life;  and  the  strange  contrasts  and  paradoxes  in 
which  he  seems  to  transcend  his  environment.  We 
shall  then  examine  the  otherwise  broken  arch  of  hu- 
man experience,  in  the  incomplete  structure  of 
science,  philosophy,  art,  morality  and  religion,  to 
see  if  perchance  he  furnishes  the  key-stone  and  com- 
pletion of  life.  We  shall  finally  see  if  he  meets 
the  test  of  personal  experience. 

We  have  better  records  of  the  life  of  Jesus  than 
of  any  character  in  ancient  history.  There  is,  more- 
over, a  certain  self-evidencing  value  in  these  narra- 
tives, a  rugged,  sober  sincerity,  a  sense  of  reality, 
a  straightforward  honesty  of  purpose  that  makes 


16  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

its  own  appeal.  Let  us  then  take  these  simple 
records  and  see  whether  they  bring  us  evidence  that 
Jesus  was  merely  an  ordinary  man  like  ourselves, 
or  whether  he  stands  unique  and  alone,  unlike  all 
who  came  before,  and  all  who  followed  after  him. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  some  that  Jesus  was  in 
any  peculiar  sense  divine,  but  once  granted  a  per- 
sonal or  loving  God  who  desired  to  help  men  as  his 
children  or  to  manifest  himself  to  them,  how  other- 
wise could  he  do  so  intelligibly,  helpfully  and 
finally  save  in  a  human  life  like  that  of  Jesus? 

Let  us  begin,  however,  with  him  just  as  a  man, 
and  study  his  life  and  teaching. 

I.  His  Character.  How  strong  he  was !  Fiercely 
tempted  for  forty  days,  he  returns  triumphant,  with 
power  enough  to  help  a  defeated  humanity.  How 
fearlessly  he  stands  before  his  enemies,  undaunted, 
unswerving  from  the  path  of  duty.  All  the  tyranny 
of  Jewish  legalism  or  of  Roman  imperialism  could 
not  crush  him.  Quietly  and  unafraid  he  moves  to 
his  appointed  end.  How  strong  is  his  hold  upon 
men,  as  he  calls  them  to  leave  home  and  kindred, 
ambition,  possessions,  all  things,  even  life  itself, 
to  follow  him.  After  sixty  generations,  his  call  is 
still  the  most  commanding  and  imperative  in  hu- 
man life,  as  he  leads  men  to  go  for  him  to  the  heart 
of  social  injustice,  or  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  to 
the  jungles  of  Africa,  to  the  limits  of  Asia,  to 
tropic  heat  or  arctic  cold,  to  carry  his  transforming 
message  of  good  news.  Feeble  and  failing  humanity 
has  ever  turned  to  him  in  its  deepest  despair  and 
in  its  highest  hope  as  "strong  Son  of  God."     Still 


JESUS  CHRIST  17 

we  say,  "Purest  among  the  mighty,  mightiest  among 
the  pure,  whose  pierced  hand  has  lifted  empires 
from  their  foundations,  has  turned  the  stream  of 
history  from  its  channel  and  still  guides  the  ages." 
Does  not  his  whole  life  leave  upon  us  the  impress 
of  overmastering  moral  strength  and  spiritual 
power  ? 

How  pure  and  sinless  he  was!  All  the  world's 
literature  and  all  its  sacred  books  contain  the  record 
of  no  other  sinless  character,  and  none  was  ever  con- 
ceived or  successfully  portrayed  in  fiction.  Every 
other  great  religious  leader  has  passed  through  a 
conversion,  or  a  period  of  repentance.  The  best 
men  have  ever  been  most  ready  to  confess  their 
faults  and  failings,  for  "human  piety  begins  with 
repentance."  Jesus  seems  removed  by  a  world  from 
even  the  best  of  his  followers,  who  like  Peter  cry, 
"Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,"  or,  like 
Paul,  out  of  a  tortured  conscience  of  despairing 
legalism,  "O,  wretched  man  that  I  am!  Who  shall 
deliver  me?"  Out  of  the  depths  of  a  seemingly 
sinless  consciousness,  unconvicted  before  man  and 
unrepentant  before  the  very  presence  of  God,  he 
calls  the  world  to  a  standard  of  perfect  purity — 
"Ye  shall  be  perfect."  He  lays  bare,  as  none  other, 
the  depravity  of  the  human  heart;  yet  seems  con- 
scious of  no  guilt  or  shortcoming  of  his  own.  Who 
is  this  that  calls  a  world  to  repentance,  yet  needs 
none  himself;  who  prays,  "Father  forgive  them," 
but  never,  "Father  forgive  me"? 

After  years  spent  in  the  daily  intimacy  of  his 
presence,  as  he  was  pressed  by  the  throng,  wearied, 


18  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

persecuted,  deserted,  nailed  to  a  felon's  cross,  these 
men  who  companied  with  him,  who  would  go  to 
death  rather  than  accord  divine  honors  to  Caesar 
or  any  other  man  living  or  dead,  gave  him  in  their 
thought  and  worship  the  supreme  place  as  "Lord," 
as  the  very  symbol  of  deity,  as  God  revealed  in  a 
human  life.  His  greatest  enemy  Saul  of  Tarsus 
places  this  Galilean  carpenter  beside  God  and 
finally  comes  to  sum  up  human  experience  in  the 
words,  "The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  love  of  God  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  be  with  you  all." 

If  God  were  to  manifest  himself  in  a  human 
life,  could  it  be  more  Godlike  in  moral  purity? 

And  how  loving  he  was!  For  three  years  we 
see  him  going  about  doing  good,  sharing  his  life 
with  needy  men  in  limitless  self-giving,  the  great- 
est heart  of  all  human  history.  None  other  ever 
compassed  humanity,  sounded  the  depths  of  its  sin, 
swept  the  whole  horizon  of  its  sympathy.  None 
other  ever  so  loved  the  whole  sordid  world  "unto 
the  end."  The  multitude  of  the  poor  gathered 
about  him  as  though  drawn  by  a  great  human  mag- 
net. Little  children  strangely  loved  him  as  he  took 
them  in  his  arms  and  placed  his  hands  upon  them. 
It  was  the  taunt  of  his  enemies,  but  the  glory  of 
history,  that  he  was  "the  friend  of  sinners."  He 
seems  possessed  by  "the  enthusiasm  of  humanity" 
that  takes  in  the  human  race  in  its  breadth  and 
endless  reach.  And  yet  he  loved  each,  one  by  one. 
He  loves  Peter,  who  breaks  his  heart,  cursing  and 
swearing  as  he  denies  him.     He  loves  Judas  as  he 


JESUS  CHRIST  19 

stoops  to  wash  the  feet  of  his  betrayer.  Each  in 
his  presence  felt  the  glow  of  his  personal  affection. 

We  see  him  in  his  last  agony,  exhausted  under 
the  Roman  scourging,  spit  upon,  nailed  to  a  cross, 
reviled,  rejected,  hated,  his  life  plans  seemingly  fall- 
ing in  wreckage  about  him,  before  the  cynical  hard- 
ness and  hatred  of  impenitent  Pharisees  and  Sad- 
ducees  who  were  leading  his  people  to  destruction, 
yet  crying,  "Father  forgive  them  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do."  Higher  than  this,  our  thought 
of  love  cannot  reach.  And  herein  is  a  Gospel  for 
humanity,  a  Good  News  for  the  race  if  we  can 
believe  that  in  this  manifestation  of  unconquer- 
able love,  he  was  "the  likeness  of  the  unseen  God," 
and  that  God  was  like  Jesus.  Could  God  himself 
be  more  loving  if  revealed  in  a  human  life? 

This  Jesus,  strong,  pure,  and  loving,  stands  be- 
fore us,  our  very  brother-man.  We  find  in  him, 
moreover,  a  perfect  balance  and  symmetry  of  char- 
acter. Who  is  this  young  rabbi-carpenter,  who  lays 
aside  his  tools  and  goes  out  to  call  all  men  to  be  his 
brothers  and  children  of  his  Father  in  Heaven? 

Someone  may  say,  Are  we  not  all  divine?  If  so, 
what  is  the  difference  between  Jesus  and  ourselves? 
Yes,  I  know  that  God  is  in  me — as  a  sinner  that  is 
being  saved.  But  God  was  in  Jesus  as  a  Saviour  of 
sinners.  Every  human  being  is  created  in  the  image 
of  God.  The  Father  and  his  children  share  a  com- 
mon life.  God,  Jesus  and  all  mankind  are  spiritu- 
ally akin,  for  God  is  immanent  in  all.  Jesus  repre- 
sents the  fullness,  the  completion,  the  supreme  mani- 
festation of  the  immanence  of  God  in  human  life. 


20  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

There  is  a  moral  world  of  difference  between  the 
best  of  his  followers,  who  cries  that  he  is  "the  chief 
of  sinners,"  and  him  who  can  say,  "Thy  sins  are 
forgiven  thee,"  "Come  unto  me  and  I  will  give  you 
rest."  » 

Think,  of  his  spiritual  finality.  Jesus  is  never 
out  of  date.  He  is  humanity's  eternal  contempo- 
rary. If  he  were  merely  a  good  man,  a  well-mean- 
ing carpenter  of  Galilee,  an  unlettered  peasant,  we 
ought  now  after  nineteen  centuries  of  progress  to 
be  turning  out  from  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  Yale 
and  Harvard,  Paris  and  Berlin,  better  men  than 
Jesus.  In  what  other  historic  character  could  we 
transfer  every  attribute  to  God  without  a  sense 
of  blasphemy,  and  dare  to  say  God  was  like  him? 
If  we  can  be  sure  that  God  eternally  is  what  Jesus 
was  here  on  earth,  this  is  for  us  an  eternal  Gospel. 
Think  of  a  God  as  loving  as  Jesus,  with  as  tender  a 
personal  care,  marking  the  sparrow's  fall,  number- 
ing, as  it  were,  the  hairs  of  our  heads.  Think  of 
a  God  like  Jesus  in  his  moral  distinctions,  hating 
hyprocrisy  and  sin,  yet  loving  the  sinner.  In  his 
moral  attributes  what  more  can  we  conceive  of 
God?  And  let  us  remember  that  in  the  question 
of  Jesus'  divinity,  it  is  not  a  mere  estimate  of  an 

1('We  should  expect  that  God  would  manifest  himself  in  such  a 
soul  for  the  guidance  and  salvation  of  men.  When  we  turn  to  the 
records  of  Jesus  Christ  we  are  enabled  to  look  into  his  soul ;  and 
there  for  the  first  time  the  immanence  of  God  becomes  a  trans- 
parent reality.  The  distinctive  marks  of  his  consciousness  as 
compared  with  ourselves  and  the  best  of  men  are  three:  i.  He  is 
not  conscious  of  sin.  2.  He  enjoys  an  unclouded  communion  with 
God;  he  and  his  father  are  never  separated  in  will  or  act.  3.  He 
alone  exists,  only  to  save  and  serve  humanity."  R.  F.  Horton,  "My 
Belief,"  p.  109. 


JESUS  CHRIST  21 

historic  person  that  is  at  stake,  but  the  character  of 
God  himself,  our  way  of  construing  the  universe,  our 
attitude  to  humanity,  the  meaning  and  destiny  of 
life  itself.  Your  casual  opinion  or  estimate  of  So- 
crates or  Buddha,  of  Bacon  or  Shakespeare  mat- 
ters little ;  but  what  you  think  of  and  do  with  Jesus 
becomes  for  you  the  test  of  life  and  the  touch-stone 
of  destiny.  For  he  is  the  ideal  realized.  Who  is 
this  who  so  affects  or  determines  our  relation  to 
God  and  man,  to  life  and  destiny?  Has  he  the 
message  we  need  in  facing  the  crisis  in  the  world 
today? 

2.  Jesus'  Teaching.  He  has  enlarged  for  man- 
kind the  conception  of  God,  of  man,  of  duty,  and 
of  destiny. 

Jesus  enlarged  our  conception  of  God.  He  puri- 
fied, unified,  vitalized,  and  raised  it  to  its  highest 
power.  He  made  God  as  Father  real  to  humanity. 
The  idea  of  God  has  been  to  the  philosopher  a  postu- 
late, an  hypothesis,  a  first  cause,  an  explanation,  or 
an  abstract  absolute.  To  religious  people,  the  full 
realization  of  God  had  been  prevailingly  perverted 
or  confused,  by  animism,  polytheism,  pantheism,  en- 
slaving legalism  and  a  chaos  of  conflicting  ideas  and 
superstitions.  Jesus  gathered  all  the  thoughts  and 
experiences  of  men  into  one  glorious  and  vital  unity 
of  God  as  Father.  He  so  introduces  us  to  God, 
so  shares  his  experience  with  us  and  so  makes  us 
acquainted  with  him  that  God  becomes  for  us  the 
central  certainty  of  all  life. 

Jesus  teaches  the  inestimable  worth  of  man  as 
God's  child,  made  in  his  image,  capable  of  fellow- 


22  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

ship  with  him,  with  the  expanding  power  of  an 
endless  life.  For  him  every  man  is  of  incalculable 
spiritual  value,  worth  all  the  love  of  God  and  worthy 
of  his  own  infinite  sacrifice.  Emerson  tells  us  that 
one  alone  knew  the  worth  of  a  man.  In  all  previous 
history  man  had  been  cheap,  enslaved,  exploited, 
slain  by  thousands  in  battle,  offered  on  the  altars  of 
the  lust,  cruelty,  and  greed  of  his  fellow-men.  Jesus 
alone  measures  his  full  worth  in  the  purpose  of  God. 
In  the  light  of  his  teaching  even  the  lowest  slave  be- 
comes "the  brother  for  whom  Christ  died." 

The  modern  world  has  confirmed  the  estimate 
he  placed  upon  man.  He  taught  the  native  spir- 
itual equality  and  democratic  right  of  opportunity 
of  all  men,  and  as  Benjamin  Kidd  reminds  us, 
"around  this  doctrine  every  phase  of  the  progres- 
sive political  movements  in  our  civilization  has  cen- 
tered for  the  last  two  centuries." 

He  lifts  our  conception  of  duty.  He  raises  man's 
life  to  new  moral  heights  of  possibility  and  places 
a  new  ethical  ideal  before  humanity.  And  yet  this 
humanly  impossible  standard  seems  natural  to  him 
and,  in  his  presence,  possible  for  us.  He  makes 
us  joyously  confident  to  dare  the  humanly  impossi- 
ble. Fearlessly  he  sweeps  aside  or  criticizes  as  in- 
adequate the  most  authoritative  known  standards 
of  morality  with  his  moral  imperative,  "/  say  unto 
you."  He  places  clear  and  firm  before  us,  as  an 
Alpine  snow  peak,  moral  altitudes  which  without 
him  are  inaccessible. 

In  his  call  to  duty,  reinforced  by  the  categorical 
imperative  of  conscience  within,  and  the  moral  or- 


JESUS  CHRIST  23 

der  of  the  universe  without,  we  seem  to  hear  the 
very  voice  of  God.  Who  is  this  that  stands  at  the 
moral  summit  of  the  centuries? 

He  creates  a  new  conception  of  destiny  as  he 
flings  wide  before  us  the  entrance  to  endless  life. 
He  makes  no  labored  proof  nor  cold  argument  for 
immortality.  Beside  the  guesses  and  gropings  and 
wavering  uncertainties  of  the  philosophers,  he  of- 
fers the  sure  and  blessed  hope  of  an  eternal  life 
already  begun  here  on  earth.  He  offers  no  mere 
selfish  personal  blessing  in  a  future  heaven,  but  the 
mighty  concept  of  God,  man,  and  duty  united  and 
realized  in  a  universal  and  eternal  Kingdom  of  God, 
here  and  hereafter.  Reinhard  bases  the  argument 
for  his  divinity  solely  upon  this  conception  of  the 
Kingdom.  Who  is  this  unlettered  Galilean  peasant 
who  proposes  a  Christian  social  order  involving 
the  moral  organization  of  all  mankind?  His  con- 
cept embraces  a  sphere  so  wide  that  it  is  confined 
by  no  Pharisaic  sect  or  clique  or  Jewish  prejudice, 
but  would  embrace  all  men  of  all  races  and  all  re- 
ligions. Here  is  a  kingdom  already  within  us  yet 
endless  as  the  ages,  high  as  the  purpose  and  plan  of 
God  and  deep  as  human  need  and  sin.  Royce  asks 
where  we  can  find  "a  cause,  all-embracing,  definite, 
rational,  compelling,  supreme,  certain,  and  fit  to 
centralize  life."  To  whom  shall  we  go,  save  to 
him  who  flings  this  challenging  program  before  us 
as  the  highest  conceivable  goal  for  humanity?1 

1  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  in  a  recent  article  on  the  six  greatest  men  in 
history  says  of  Jesus,  "His  is  easily  the  dominant  figure  in  his- 
tory. ...  A  historian  without  any  theological  bias  whatever, 
should   find   that   he   simply  cannot   portray   the   progress   of   hu- 


24  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

How  high  is  Jesus'  ethical  standard!  What  a 
ureadth  and  sweep  it  embraces,  appealing  equally 
to  Orient  and  Occident,  to  wise  and  ignorant,  rich 
and  poor,  to  men  of  all  races,  all  ages  and  genera- 
tions alike!  And  how  adaptable  it  is;  not  cramped 
or  confined  in  rigid  rules,  but  spacious  in  eternal 
principles,  motivated  by  love,  freed  by  the  concept 
of  liberty,  containing  the  element  of  progress,  and 
mighty  with  the  dynamic  of  divine  power.  How 
final  is  his  moral  imperative!  How  much  have 
twenty  centuries  added  to  his  ethical  standard?  His 
word  seems  to  stand  complete  and  final  in  eternal 
truth. 

Who  is  this  young  carpenter-rabbi,  this  peasant 
who  sits  on  the  hillsides  of  Galilee  and  proclaims 
eternal  truth  for  humanity,  to  whom  we  turn  today 
with  the  words,  "To  whom  else  shall  we  go?  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."?  To  whom  shall 
we  turn  for  the  ultimate  spiritual  standards  of  life  ? 
To  Moses  or  Isaiah,  to  Buddha,  Confucius,  or 
Mohammed?  Can  we  find  the  full  spiritual  mean- 
ing of  life  unfolded  by  Socrates,  by  Plato  or  Aris- 
totle, by  Marcus  Aurelius  or  Epictetus,  by  Kant 
or  Hegel,  by  Dante  or  Shakespeare,  by  Nietzsche 
or  Haeckel?     To  whom  else  can  we  turn  for  life? 

manity  honestly  without  giving  a  foremost  place  to  a  penniless 
teacher  from  Nazareth.  ...  A  historian  like  myself  finds  the 
picture  centering  irresistibly  around  the  life  and  character  of  this 
simple,  lovable  man.  .  .  .  The  permanent  place  of  power  which 
he  occupies  is  his  by  virtue  of  the  new  and  simple  and  profound 
doctrine  which  he  brought — the  universal  loving  Fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  revolutionary  doctrines  that  has  ever  stirred  and  changed 
human  thought.  .  .  .  The  world  began  to  be  a  different  world  from 
the  day  that  doctrine  was  preached." — The  American  Magazine, 
July,   1922,  p.   14. 


JESUS  CHRIST  25 

Who,  other  than  Jesus,  completes  the  whole  sweep 
of  our  thought  of  God,  of  man,  of  duty,  and  of 
destiny,  and  unifies  them  in  one  eternal  Kingdom 
of  Love? 

3.  His  Unique  Relationships.  If  we  read  afresh 
the  records  of  his  life,  it  seems  evident  that  Jesus 
stands  in  a  unique  relation  both  to  God  and  to  man. 
We  shall  confine  our  references  here  to  the  first 
three  gospels.1  Whether  we  examine  the  claims  he 
is  reported  to  have  made,  or  those  made  for  him 
by  his  followers,  or  the  overwhelming  impression 
he  made  upon  his  contemporaries,  or  the  functions 
he  fulfills,  he  actually  brings  God  to  man  and  man 
to  God.  He  is  the  supreme  revelation  of  God  and 
the  Saviour  of  man. 

'We  have  better  manuscripts,  both  as  to  quality  and  quantity, 
written  nearer  to  the  events  described,  than  we  possess  of  any 
other  ancient  character  or  writer.  Of  the  plays  of  Eschylus  we 
have  some  fifty  manuscripts,  none  of  them  complete;  of  Sophocles 
about  a  hundred,  but  only  seven  of  value;  of  Euripides,  Cicero 
and  Virgil  some  hundreds.  But  of  the  four  Gospels  and  of  the 
New  Testament  in  the  original  Greek,  we  have  over  three  thou- 
sand manuscripts  and,  with  their  ancient  translations,  more  than 
twelve  thousand  copies  to  consult.  Moreover,  these  stand  chrono- 
logically nearer  the  events  they  record  than  the  manuscripts  of  the 
classics.  The  earliest  manuscript  we  have  of  Sophocles  was  writ- 
ten fourteen  hundred  years  after  his  death ;  of  Euripides  sixteen 
hundred  years,  and  of  Plato,  thirteen  hundred  years  after  he  lived. 
Of  Virgil,  the  best  of  the  classics,  we  have  no  extant  manuscript 
written  within  a  hundred  years  as  near  the  lifetime  of  the  author 
as  in  the  case  of  the  New  Testament  manuscripts.  Of  the  manu- 
scripts of  Aristotle,  we  have  only  those  written  within  two  and  a 
half  centuries  of  his  death.  Yet  none  of  us  seriously  doubts  the 
worth  and  authenticity  of  these  classic  writers.  We  have  their 
essential  message  and  can  estimate  its  value.  As  John  Stuart  Mill 
well  says,  "It  is  of  no  use  to  say  that  Christ,  as  exhibited  in  the 
Gospels,  is  not  historical,  and  that  we  know  not  how  much  of  what 
is  admirable  may  have  been  added  by  the  traditions  of  his  fol- 
lowers. Who  among  them  was  capable  of  inventing  the  sayings 
ascribed  to  Jesus,  or  of  imagining  the  life  and  character  revealed 
in  the  Gospels?"  Cf.  Bishop  Welldon,  Nineteenth  Century,  Oct 
1907. 


26  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

In  his  relation  to  God,  he  alone  fully  knows  God 
and  completely  reveals  him.  "All  has  been  handed 
over  to  me  by  my  Father :  and  no  one  knows  the  Son 
except  the  Father,  nor  does  anyone  know  the  Father 
except  the  Son,  and  he  to  whom  the  Son  chooses 
to  reveal  him."  } 

In  his  relation  to  man,  he  is  the  Messiah  of  the 
Jews,  the  hope  of  Israel,  the  light  of  the  Gentiles, 
prophesied  through  the  centuries.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, of  whom  it  was  said  that  there  was  "none 
greater  born  of  woman,"  is  less  than  the  least  in  his 
new  Messianic  Kingdom.  According  to  the  record 
of  his  contemporaries,  this  claim  to  Messiahship  he 
repeats  in  the  face  of  death:  upon  it  he  staked  his 
life,  and  for  it  he  died.  He  is  the  fulfiller  of  the 
law  and  the  prophets,  of  the  Old  Covenant  which 
culminates  in  him,  and  by  his  death  he  inaugurates  a 
New  Covenant  of  grace  and  truth,  which  super- 
sedes the  law  of  Moses.  He  turns  a  new  page  of 
history  for  all  mankind  and  men  date  their  docu- 
ments and  divide  time  by  his  birth. 

As  Son  of  Man,  he  is  the  representative  of  a  new 
humanity.  As  Saviour,  he  comes  to  seek  and  to 
save  the  lost  among  men.  He  satisfies  the  human 
heart.  Who  is  this  that  is  able  to  say,  "Come  unto 
me,  all  who  are  laboring  and  burdened,  and  I  will 
refresh  you.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn 
from  me,  for  I  am  gentle  and  humble  in  heart,  and 
you  will  find  your  souls  refreshed;  my  yoke  is  kindly 
and  my  burden  light."  2 

1  Matt  11:27. 
3  Matt  11:28-30. 


JESUS  CHRIST  27 

Who  but  the  very  Master  of  the  heart  would 
dare  to  say,  "Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before 
men,  him  will  I  confess  before  my  Father."?  "If 
anyone  comes  to  me  and  does  not  hate  his  father 
and  mother  and  wife  and  children  and  brothers  and 
sisters,  aye  and  his  own  life,  he  cannot  be  a  disciple 
of  mine:  whoever  does  not  carry  his  own  cross  and 
come  after  me,  he  cannot  be  a  disciple  of  mine." 
He  is  greater  than  John,  "greater  than  Jonah,"  or 
the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  "greater  than 
Solomon"  in  all  his  glory,  greater  than  David, 
Israel's  greatest  king,  who  calls  him  "Lord." 

By  his  standard  men  will  be  judged.  The  des- 
tiny of  men  will  be  according  to  what  they  do  to 
him  as  he  identifies  himself  with  all  humanity,  the 
least  of  these  his  brethren.  His  glad  tidings  of 
life  are  to  be  proclaimed  to  all  the  world,  and  even 
the  loving  act  of  an  outcast  woman,  who  breaks 
an  alabaster  cruse  of  ointment  and  anoints  his 
weary  feet,  shall  be  told  with  the  telling  of  his  good 
news  in  distant  climes  to  the  end  of  time.  Have 
not  the  centuries  borne  out  these  sweeping  and  stu- 
pendous claims? 

As  the  writer  has  traveled  among  the  students 
of  more  than  twenty  countries  for  the  last  twenty- 
five  years,  he  has  observed  one  supremely  significant 
movement  in  the  religious  realm  extending  around 
the  world.  In  the  spiritual  sphere  the  world  is  be- 
ing very  slowly  but  surely  Christianized.  The  stu- 
dent world  is  not  being  converted  to  Buddha,  to 
Confucius,  or  to  Mohammed.  There  is  a  "World's 
Student     Christian     Federation."       There     is    no 


28  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

World's  Student  Buddhist,  Confucian,  Mohamme- 
dan, or  Hindu  Federation.  Christ  only  is  becom- 
ing supreme  in  the  spiritual  sphere,  and  there  is 
no  other  to  whom  the  students  of  the  world  are 
turning  in  spiritual  hunger  to  find  a  rational  and 
vital  relation  to  God  in  personal  renewal  and  so- 
cial redemption. 

Are  the  statements  of  the  unique  relationships  of 
Jesus  being  fulfilled  or  disproved  by  the  centuries? 
Does  he  seem  to  speak  as  a  misguided  enthusiast? 
As  we  test  these  claims  pragmatically,  does  he  or 
does  he  not  actually  in  experience  bring  God  to  man? 
Does  he  or  does  he  not  bring  man  to  God,  as 
throughout  the  centuries  he  saves  the  sinful?  Who 
is  this  who  stands  in  unique  relation  to  God  and 
man,  claimed  or  implied  on  almost  every  page  of  the 
narrative,  varied  in  a  hundred  phrases  and  figures, 
and  interwoven  with  his  acts  and  teachings? 

4.  The  Historic  Effects  of  His  Life.  Have  the 
centuries  since  he  lived  been  proving  or  disproving 
his  claims?  What  has  been  done  toward  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  the  uplift  of  childhood,  womanhood, 
manhood?  What  has  been  done  for  the  sick,  the 
poor,  the  ignorant  and  the  sinful  that  is  traceable 
to  his  influence? 

Slavery  was  first  mitigated  and  finally  abolished 
by  the  progressive  application  of  the  principles  of 
Jesus,  in  spite  of  the  long  defense  of  the  system 
by  some  of  his  misguided  followers  because  of  their 
vested  interests.  When  Jesus  entered  the  world 
slavery  was  practically  a  universal  institution.  He 
gave  mankind  a  new  conception  of  God  as  Father, 


JESUS  CHRIST  29 

of  man  as  brother,  and  of  life  conceived  under  a 
new  principle  of  liberty.  Within  a  century  the 
condition  of  slaves  had  been  ameliorated  in  Rome. 
Chiefly  as  the  result  of  the  agitation  of  his  follow- 
ers slaves  were  finally  freed  in  every  Christian 
country  and  ultimately  even  in  the  dark  continent 
of  Africa. 

Womanhood  has  been  uplifted  through  his  in- 
fluence.1 Among  the  five  hundred  million  women 
of  over  half  the  human  race  in  the  continents  of 
Asia  and  Africa,  under  the  ethnic  religions,  not  one 
has  to  the  full  her  God-given  rights,  apart  from 
the  application  of  the  principles  of  Jesus.  Jesus 
gave  for  all  time  a  new  status  to  womanhood.  Un- 
der the  influence  of  his  teaching,  monogomy  became 
gradually  prevalent,  marriage  was  held  sacred,  sex- 
ual morality  was  lifted  to  a  higher  plane  and  the 
home  possessed  a  new  sanctity.  Woman,  who  for 
centuries  had  been  the  toy  or  drudge  of  man,  was 
increasingly  given  her  rightful  place  in  religion,  in 
education,  in  art,  in  law,  in  all  life. 

The  sick  have  been  cared  for  and  a  vast  minis- 
try of  healing  has  come  down  the  centuries  and 
extended  to  the  limits  of  the  world  under  the  in- 
fluence of  his  teaching  and  example. 

The  poor  have  been  uplifted.  Even  the  exalted 
Plato  says  that  "the  poor  should  be  expelled  from 

1Even  Plato  believed  in  a  community  of  wives.  Aristotle  ranked 
woman  between  man  and  the  slave.  Confucius  in  his  own  un- 
happy home  never  fully  conceived  of  the  worth  of  womanhood 
nor  saw  the  high  sanctity  of  marriage.  Buddha  gave  thanks  that 
he  had  not  been  born  in  hell,  as  vermin,  or  as  woman.  In  Hindu- 
ism, the  code  of  Manu  permitted  woman  no  equal  place  with  man. 
Under  Islam,  with  its  polygamy,  its  slavery,  and  its  sensuous  con- 
ception even  of  heaven,  a  blight  has  fallen  upon  womanhood. 


30  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

the  markets  and  the  country  cleared  of  that  sort 
of  animal."  But  Jesus  offers  comfort  to  the  op- 
pressed, and  boldly  arraigns  the  selfish  rich.  His 
gospel  is  a  good  news  for  the  poor.  The  record  of 
the  ministry  of  his  true  followers  to  them  would 
fill  many  volumes;  from  the  sharing  of  their  pos- 
sessions in  their  early  enthusiasm  for  humanity  even, 
to  the  present  day  they  have  continued  Christ's  com- 
passionate work  for  the  multitudes.  He  calls  not 
only  for  the  palliatives  of  charity  but  for  funda- 
mental social  justice  for  all. 

The  ignorant  have  been  enlightened  and  up- 
lifted by  his  teaching  and  by  the  application  of  his 
principles  to  life.  Jesus  sought  to  make  men  whole 
in  mind,  as  well  as  in  body.  The  introduction  of 
Christianity  with  the  translation  of  the  Bible  proved 
a  powerful  educational  factor  in  the  civilization  and 
progress  of  the  half-barbarous  peoples  of  early  Eu- 
rope. Under  the  missionary  impulse  of  Christ's 
teaching,  more  than  two  hundred  languages  have 
been  reduced  to  writing  among  savage  tribes  in 
Africa  and  isolated  portions  of  the  globe,  and  Chris- 
tian schools  and  colleges  have  been  founded  by 
thousands  in  scores  of  lands. 

The  sinful  have  been  saved,  and  spiritual  regen- 
eration has  been  experienced  by  multitudes  who 
have  sought  to  follow  Jesus'  way  of  life.  His  work 
of  moral  uplift  has  steadily  gone  forward  in  indi- 
viduals, in  nations,  and  in  human  society.  Can  any- 
one deny  that  his  influence  has  been  the  chief  factor 
in  the  moral  renewal  and  spiritual  transformation 
of  men  for  the  last  nineteen  hundred  years? 


JESUS  CHRIST  31 

After  tracing  through  the  centuries  the  results  of 
his  life  and  teachings  upon  slavery,  upon  the  uplift 
of  childhood,  womanhood,  manhood;  upon  the  sick, 
the  poor,  the  ignorant,  the  sinful,  and  upon  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  men;  then  ask  if  his 
influence  has  not  done  more  to  regenerate  mankind 
than  all  other  influences  combined.1  If  so,  do  not 
the  cumulative  historic  effects  of  his  life  tend  in- 
creasingly to  show  that  he  was  the  supreme  revela- 
tion of  God? 

5.  He  Transcends  his  Environment  and  Limita- 
tions. Men  are  usually  made  by  their  environ- 
ment, limited  by  the  circumstances  of  their  lives.  In 
some  strange  way  Jesus  transformed  and  tran- 
scended the  limitations  of  his  life.  In  the  factors 
that  contribute  to  the  making  of  a  man,  we  may 
study  his  race  and  family,  his  time  and  place,  his 
education  and  opportunity.  Let  us  note  how  Jesus 
rises  above  them  all.2 

His  race  was  probably  the  most  hated  and  perse- 
cuted, the  most  bigoted  and  provincial  in  the  world. 
Yet,  though  a  Jew,  he  becomes  the  one  universal 
man  uniting  Orient  and. Occident,  appealing  equally 
to  East  and  West.  In  him  there  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Gentile,  bond  nor  free,  male  nor  female.  He  be- 
comes the  symbol  of  unity  and  universality. 

His  family  was  that  of  a  peasant  carpenter,  yet 
for  all  time  he  gives  a  new  and  infinite  content  to 

xAs  Mr.  Lecky  shows,  those  "three  short  years  have  done  more 
to  regenerate  and  to  soften  mankind  than  all  the  disquisitions  of 
the  philosophers  and  all  the  exhortations  of  the  moralists." 

2  See  "Maker  of  Men,"  G.  S.  Eddy,  pp.  12-17.  Also  "My  Lord 
and  Savior  Jesus  Christ,"  by  J.  Frank  Manly,  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted here. 


32  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

the  words  "Father,"  "Son,"  and  "brother."  He 
widens  the  thought  of  the  family  to  a  universal 
Kingdom  of  Love,  a  commonwealth  of  mankind. 

Let  us  note  how  he  transcends  his  time  and  place. 
He  had  less  than  three  years  of  public  life  in  which 
to  do  his  work  in  the  world;  less  than  any  other 
great  world  leader.  Socrates  taught  for  some  forty 
years;  Plato  for  fifty;  Aristotle  had  a  long  life  and 
filled  libraries  with  his  learning.  Jesus  seems  to 
outlive  time  and  founds  an  eternal  Kingdom.  His 
place  was  a  little,  conquered,  Jewish  province  in 
despised  Galilee,  as  small  as  an  American  or  an 
English  county,  yet  he  embraced  the  world  in  his 
thought  and  plan. 

His  education  at  most  was  only  that  of  the  vil- 
lage school.  "How  knew  this  man  letters  having 
never  learned?"  And  how  pathetically  limited  and 
straightened  was  his  opportunity.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  a  subject  race  and  a  crushed  people  who  were 
bound  by  oppressive  legalism,  where  every  innova- 
tion was  resented  and  opposed  by  reactionary 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  priests  and  Levites.  He  was 
cut  off  from  the  earth  by  his  fellow-men  before  his 
life  work  had  fairly  begun,  leaving  no  book  nor 
written  word,  no  formal  institution  nor  organization ; 
yet  how  he   transcends  his  environment. 

He  was  no  moralist,  and  yet  he  stands  supreme 
in  the  moral  sphere.  It  is  he  who  creates  the 
world's  highest  moral  standard.  He,  and  he 
alone,  is  the  illustration  and  embodiment  of  man's 
ethical  ideal.  The  supreme  revelation  of  truth  is 
thus  realized  in  a  person. 


JESUS  CHRIST  33 

He  was  no  professional  religionist  or  priest,  yet 
he  stands  supreme  in  the  realm  of  religion.  If  we 
turn  to  the  ethnic  faiths,  or  to  atheism,  agnosticism, 
pantheism,  pessimism,  positivism,  or  materialism  do 
we  find  anything  in  these  or  in  any  modern  system 
that  can  at  once  provide  a  rational  ground  for  re- 
ligious belief  for  the  educated  and  satisfy  the  deep- 
est needs  of  the  masses  of  our  common  humanity? 
Jesus  stands  "the  highest  in  the  highest  realm."  In 
the  moral  and  spiritual  sphere  he  is  supreme. 

He  was  no  writer,  yet  he  is  more  quoted  than  any 
author  in  history  and  his  words  are  repeated  to  the 
very  ends  of  the  world.  They  are  being  read  today 
in  some  seven  hundred  languages  and  tongues,  and 
form  the  one  universal  book  of  humanity.  No  man 
has  ever  laid  down  his  life  in  Africa  to  translate 
Aristotle,  Kant  or  Hegel,  nor  any  other  great  leader 
of  thought,  but  hundreds  have  died  to  carry  the 
words  of  Jesus  to  the  ends  of  the  world.  More  than 
two  hundred  languages  have  been  reduced  to  writ- 
ing in  order  to  embody  his  life-giving  message. 

He  was  no  architect,  yet  the  carpenter  of  Naza- 
reth has  somehow  become  the  master-builder  of  time. 
The  great  cathedrals  of  the  world  were  erected  for 
his  worship — St.  Sophia,  St.  Peter's,  and  St.  Paul's; 
Milan,  Cologne  and  Amiens ;  Canterbury  and  West- 
minster, and  the  masterpieces  of  architecture  were 
reared  in  his  praise. 

He  was  no  artist,  yet  the  works  of  the  great  mas- 
ters were  dedicated  to  him.  Fra  Angelico,  Raphael, 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Michael  Angelo  and  the  great- 


34  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

est  of  the  old  masters  seem  to  attain  their  highest 
under  his  inspiration. 

He  was  no  poet,  yet  he  makes  poetry  the  posses- 
sion of  the  common  people.  He  lends  a  new 
rhythm  to  life,  and  teaches  the  human  heart  to  sing. 
Dante,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Browning,  Tennyson, 
Whittier  and  a  host  of  ?reat  writers  with  a  spirit- 
ual message  are  inspired  by  him. 

He  was  no  musician,  yet  Haydn,  Handel,  Beetho- 
ven, Bach,  Wagner  and  Mendelssohn  often  reach 
their  highest  in  the  hymns,  symphonies  and  oratorios 
in  his  praise. 

He  was  no  social  dreamer,  yet  his  life  and  teach- 
ing have  created  a  social  conscience  and  furnished 
a  motive  and  dynamic  for  a  growing  movement  in 
the  world  today.  After  sixty  generations,  it  is  still 
gaining  momentum  and  becoming  the  greatest  social 
force  in  human  life.  As  Washington  Gladden  says, 
he  plants  a  social  standard  on  the  further  side  of 
twenty  centuries  and  bids  kings,  lawgivers,  prophets, 
and  statesmen  march  on  with  all  their  hosts  until 
they  attain  it.1 

He  had  no  home,  yet  he  creates  the  Christian 
family  and  secures  its  sanctity  and  its  safety  through 
a  new  conception  of  marriage.  Before  the  degen- 
eracy of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  bestiality  of  pagan- 
ism, the  sensuality  in  some  of  the  ethnic  religions, 

1  Jesus  is  the  ideally  socialized  personality.  He  completely  identi- 
fies himself  with  the  welfare  of  all  mankind.  He  exhibited  the 
complete  social  attitude  in  all  relationships.  His  Golden  Rule  is 
the  perfect  expression  of  socialization,  for  it  sets  the  standard  of 
one's  own  sense  of  personality  as  that  by  which  one's  attitude 
toward  others  is  to  be  measured.  Jesus  is  for  all  generations  the 
norm. — Soares,  "Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the  Bible,"  pp. 
376-378. 


JESUS  CHRIST  35 

and  the  growing  laxity  of  modern  divorce,  he  holds 
up  the  highest  ideal  conception  of  marriage  not  as 
legalized  licentiousness  but  as  what  "God  hath  joined 
together."  It  is  an  original  relationship  divinely 
ordained. 

He  had  no  wide  human  opportunity  of  culture  or 
travel.  He  was  no  versatile  Greek,  nor  cosmopoli- 
tan Roman,  no  citizen  of  Athens  or  Alexandria,  but 
lived  his  life  in  the  isolation  of  village  farmers  and 
fishermen.  Yet  no  one  in  all  history  has  such 
strange  power  of  self-identification  with  all  mankind 
— with  the  suffering,  the  poor,  the  sinful,  with  little 
children,  with  men  in  all  walks  of  life,  in  all  times, 
in  all  nations.  All  claim  him  as  theirs  and  seek  to 
vindicate  their  position  by  appeal  to  his  standards. 

Who  then  is  this  who  seems  ever  to  rise  above 
the  narrowing,  cramping  limitations  of  a  peasant 
carpenter,  with  a  life  transcendent,  universal  and 
divine? 

In  spite  of  all  these  limitations,  how  overwhelm- 
ing was  the  impression  he  made  upon  his  contem- 
poraries. Jesus  had  come  to  have  for  them  the 
value  of  God  because  he  performed  the  function  of 
God.  So  overmastering  is  this  impression  that 
Jesus  makes,  that  even  where  men  cannot  philosophi- 
cally or  theologically  account  for  the  mystery  of  his 
person,  he  yet  commands  and  compels  them  by  his 
constraining  love,   as  they  say, 

"If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  man, — 
And  only  a  man, — I  say 
That  of  all  mankind  I  cleave  to  Him 
And  to  Him  will  I  cleave  alway. 


36  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

"If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  God, — 
And  the  only  God, — I  swear 
I  will  follow  Him  through  heaven  and  hell, 
The  earth,  the  sea,  and  the  air!" 

One  test  of  truth  is  to  assume  the  opposite  and  see 
where  such  an  hypothesis  leads  us.  Let  us  suppose 
that  Jesus  was  only  a  good  man,  a  well  meaning 
carpenter  of  Nazareth,  but  not  the  supreme  revela- 
tion of  the  Father  and  quite  mistaken  in  his  con- 
ception of  a  loving,  personal  God.  Whither  does 
such  a  view  lead?  It  would  leave  us  with  a  Christ- 
less  God,  unmanifested  and  unknown.  For  if  God 
was  not  as  fully  revealed  in  him  as  is  possible  within 
the  limits  of  a  human  life,  then  he  is  nowhere  ade- 
quately manifested.  Like  the  men  of  Athens  we 
would  be  left  worshiping  at  the  altars  of  an  "un- 
known God."  If  in  Jesus  we  may  know  what  God  is 
like,  all  life  is  immovably  centered,  and  in  him  we 
have  seen  the  very  "portrait  of  the  invisible  God." 
If  in  his  cry  on  Calvary,  "Father,  forgive  them  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do,"  we  see  not  the  very 
love  of  God,  then  we  are  not  sure  of  that  love  and 
we  are  left  with  an  unmanifested  God.  It  is  not 
primarily  a  question  of  what  honor  we  would  do  to 
Jesus,  or  to  what  category  we  would  assign  him,  but 
it  is  our  conception  of  God  himself  and  our  relation 
to  him  that  is  at  stake. 

If  the  beautiful  teaching  of  Jesus  was  only  the 
mistaken  groping  after  truth  of  a  pious  carpenter, 
then  what  probability  have  any  of  us  of  finding 
ultimate  truth?  What  kind  of  God  does  it  leave 
us  with  if  the  world's  highest  spiritual  progress  for 


JESUS  CHRIST  37 

the  last  nineteen  centuries  has  been  based  upon  an 
untruth?  Has  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  the 
Church  throughout  the  centuries  been  false?  If 
the  lower  view  of  Jesus  as  in  no  unique  sense  divine 
is  true,  why,  when  thoroughly  tested  over  and 
again,  has  this  interpretation  so  repeatedly  failed? 
From  the  second  century  to  the  present  a  few  have 
ever  held  this  view.  Yet  it  has  never  gained  ground 
nor  been  able  to  hold  the  heart  of  humanity.  It 
has  never  offered  a  glowing  hope  to  man  nor  roused 
him  to  a  mighty  enthusiasm.  It  has  not  produced 
the  noble  army  of  martyrs  nor  the  solid  phalanx 
of  the  missionary  host.  Who  has  it  sent  to  die 
in  Africa  to  uplift  savage  tribes?  It  seems  to 
have  no  message  for  the  Dark  Continent.  The 
missionaries  of  the  world  today,  like  the  martyrs 
of  the  early  Church,  are  motivated  by  the  constrain- 
ing love  of  a  Divine  Son  of  God,  a  living  Christ, 
and  a  Saviour  who  saves.  The  Church  through 
nineteen  centuries  has  stood  in  solidarity  and  in 
historic  continuity  with  the  record  of  the  Gospels, 
the  unswerving  belief  of  the  Epistles,  and  the  wit- 
ness of  his  contemporaries  in  the  faith  of  the  Son  of 
God. 

6.  Christ  the  Completion  of  Human  Experience. 
He  completes  the  broken  arch  of  science.  Science 
is  rearing  before  us  a  vast  temple  of  human  learn- 
ing. Through  centuries  of  toil,  by  patient  investi- 
gation it  rises  upward.  The  arch  of  science  ascends 
toward  one  central  truth  that  would  complete  the 
span  of  knowledge  and  make  it  whole.  But,  as 
Harnack  shows,  "to  the  questions  of  why,  whence 


V 


38  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

and  whither,  science  can  give  no  answer."  Descrip- 
tive science  classifies  that  which  is  and  has  been. 
Jesus  unfolds  that  which  is  not  yet  fully  realized 
in  the  natural  order,  but  is  yet  to  be.  The  ques- 
tion of  final  harmony,  in  an  all-embracing  princi- 
ple which  shall  reconcile  all  differences,  lies  beyond 
science,  but  must  be  man's  quest. 

The  writer  spent  an  evening  recently,  during  a 
student  conference  at  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin, 
looking  through  the  great  Yerkes  telescope,  the 
largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  We  turned  the 
superb  instrument  on  the  star  Vega,  from  which 
the  light  that  reached  us  that  night  had  been  on 
its  way,  the  astronomer  told  us,  for  fifty  years, 
though  traveling  at  the  rate  of  seven  times  around 
the  earth  in  a  second.  Next  we  turned  the  instru- 
ment upon  a  nebula  from  which  the  light  now  reach- 
ing us  had  started  before  Washington  was  born; 
then  upon  a  neighboring  group  of  four  suns,  from 
which  their  present  light  had  been  coming  from  be- 
fore the  time  of  Columbus.  But  in  another  quar- 
ter there  was  a  dim  spot  of  light  which  contained 
myriads  of  stars  and  a  Milky  Way  of  suns  as  vast 
in  extent  as  all  the  stars  visible  in  our  sky,  from 
which  the  light  that  reached  us  that  night  had  been 
on  its  way  for  over  a  million  years.  Here  was 
vastness  of  space  and  power  that  staggered  the 
imagination.  Yet  neither  telescope  nor  microscope 
nor  all  the  investigations  of  science  can  of  them- 
selves interpret  the  spiritual  meaning  of  life  for  us. 
This  is  the  work  of  Jesus.  If  his  interpretation  of 
God  and  man  and  the  purpose  of  life  is  true,  all  is 


JESUS  CHRIST  39 

complete  and  we  see  life  whole  and  lit  with  meaning. 

Christ  is  the  keystone  of  philosophy,  which  has 
sought  in  vain  throughout  the  centuries  for  some 
final  principle  to  explain  and  unify  its  world,  to 
find  it  indeed  a  uni-verse  and  not  a  multi-verse,  a 
cosmos  and  not  a  chaos,  with  complete  and  ade- 
quate meaning.  And  yet  philosophy  itself  can  only 
find  the  crown  and  completion  of  life  in  a  loving, 
intelligent  will,  in  such  a  revelation  of  the  source 
and  ground  of  existence  as  we  find  in  Jesus  Christ. 
Are  any  of  the  systems  of  philosophy,  or  all  com- 
bined complete  without  his  interpretation  of  life, 
or  are  they  sufficient  without  a  loving  God  such  as 
Jesus  reveals?  1 

He  is  the  keystone  of  art.  Art  strives  to  realize 
and  interpret  some  final  ideal,  some  absolutely  satis- 
fying object.  It  seeks  the  contemplation  of  per- 
fect beauty.  Its  quest  is  some  image  adequate  to  ex- 
press the  world's  ruling  principle.  Where  do  we 
find  this?  Only  in  Christ  do  we  see  the  final  symbol 
and  image  of  God,  the  satisfying  object  of  contem- 
plation and  worship  which  incomplete  human  art 
must  ever  crave. 

1Cf.  William  Temple,  in  ''Men's  Creatrix,"  pp.  1-4,  258-259,  351- 
354.  "We  see  how  science  and  art  and  ethics  and  the  philosophy 
of  religion  present  converging  lines  which  though  converging  can 
never  by  the  human  mind  be  carried  far  enough  to  reach  their 
meeting  point,  but  that  that  meeting  point  is  offered  in  the  fact 
of  Christ.  Here  is  the  pivot  of  all  true  human  thought;  here  is 
the  belief  that  can  give  unity  to  all  the  work  of  mind.  The 
creative  mind  in  man  never  attains  its  goal  until  the  creative 
mind  of  God,  in  whose  image  it  was  made,  reveals  its  own  nature 
and  completes  man's  work.  Man's  search  was  divinely  guided  all 
the  time,  but  its  completion  is  only  reached  by  the  act  of  God 
himself,  meeting  and  crowning  the  effort  which  he  has  inspired." 
—Page  354. 


40  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

He  is  the  keystone  of  morality,  which  demands  a 
life  of  love  and  fellowship.  But  for  the  realiza- 
tion of  such  a  life  some  adequate  power  is  needed 
to  regenerate  the  individual,  to  create  an  ideal  so- 
ciety, and  to  bind  it  together  in  love.  This  we  find 
in  Christ  alone,  the  Saviour  of  the  individual  and 
the  founder  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  His  Kingdom 
gives  us  the  ultimate  social  ideal  involving  the  moral 
organization  of  mankind,  united  by  the  motive  of 
love. 

And  lastly,  he  is  the  keystone  of  religion.  For 
the  last  five  thousand  years  of  human  history,  re- 
corded on  the  monuments  of  Egypt,  written  in  the 
sacred  books  of  the  East,  and  witnessed  still  in  the 
vast  multitudes  of  weary  pilgrims  in  their  search 
for  truth  throughout  Asia  and  other  lands,  religion 
has  ever  been  seeking  rest  in  a  God  of  absolute 
power  and  love.  Apart  from  Jesus  Christ,  man 
seems  to  be  separated  from  God  and  his  fellow-men 
by  his  own  sin  and  ignorance.  Christ  alone  com- 
pletely bridges  this  gulf  of  separation,  calls  man 
back  to  God,  reconciles  him  with  his  brother  and 
completes  the  arch  of  religion,  in  a  God  of  power 
and  love  equal  to  the  whole  world's  need.  Thus  all 
human  experience,  in  science,  philosophy,  art,  moral- 
ity, and  religion,  is  like  an  arch  in  one  grand  temple 
of  humanity,  as  yet  broken  and  incomplete,  needing 
but  the  single  keystone  of  Christ  as  the  supreme 
revelation  of  one  infinite,  loving,  intelligent  Will  to 
complete  the  span,  to  enable  us  to  see  life  steadily, 
and  see  it  whole.     As  Browning  says : 


JESUS  CHRIST  41 

"I  say  the   acknowledgement   of   God   in   Christ 
Accepted  by  thy  reason,  solves  for  thee 
All  questions  in  this  world  and  out  of  it, 
And  has,  so  far,  advanced  thee  to  be  wise." 

7.  He  Meets  the  Test  of  Personal  Experience* 
Jesus'  teachings  and  claims  may  be  submitted  not 
only  to  objective  historical  examination,  but  to  sub- 
jective verification.  By  their  fruits  we  may  know 
them.  We  may  put  to  the  test  the  question  whether. 
Jesus  was  the  supreme  revelation  of  God  or  not,  by 
asking  whether  he  alone  fully  meets  the  three  spir- 
itual needs  of  life — for  the  past,  the  present,  and 
the  future.  The  writer  desires  to  speak  here  per- 
sonally and  with  perfect  frankness.  For  the  past  I 
need  forgiveness  and  the  sense  of  reconciliation; 
for  the  present  I  need  deliverance  in  the  midst  of 
an  overwhelming  moral  conflict;  for  the  future  I 
crave  a  sure  and  certain  hope  that  life  has  adequate 
meaning  and  a  moral  purpose  here  and  hereafter. 

I  look  back  on  a  past  of  failure  and  of  guilt  that 
entails  suffering  to  myself  and  to  others.  And  that 
inexorable  past  I  cannot  relive  or  undo.  Yet  in 
some  strange  way  Jesus  breaks  the  entail.  He  sets 
me  free  from  my  feeling  of  guilt  for  the  harm  I 
have  done  to  my  own  and  other  lives  in  the  irretriev- 
able past,  he  gives  me  a  sense  of  utter  forgiveness, 
with  a  clear  conscience  and  a  new  moral  attitude  of 
inward  freedom.  Somehow,  whether  I  can  explain 
it  or  not,  I  have  found  a  new  beginning  of  life 
through  him  who  claimed  authority  to  say,  "Thy 
sins  are  forgiven  thee." 

He  meets  my  spiritual  need  in  the  present.    I  find 


42  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

myself  in  a  death-grapple  with  moral  evil  which  is 
reinforced  by  sinful  habit  and  heredity.  The  temp- 
tations of  sense,  the  allurements  of  the  flesh,  the 
gravitation  of  the  lower  nature  within  are  too 
strong  for  me.  But  here  is  one  who  in  some  strange 
way  has  actually  set  men  free  from  the  bondage  of 
passion  and  made  them  victors  in  the  moral  strug- 
gle. Saul  of  Tarsus,  speaking  from  the  bitterness 
of  long  years  of  bondage,  is  but  voicing  the  sense 
of  defeat  of  the  rest  of  us,  and  even  of  the  great 
moral  leaders  of  the  race  when  he  says,  "The  good 
that  I  would,  I  do  not.  O,  wretched  man  that  I 
am,  who  shall  deliver  me?"  Yet  he  becomes  the 
glad  follower  of  Jesus,  and  is  able  to  say,  "The 
law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  has  set  me  free 
from  the  law  of  sin  and  of  death."  Out  of  this 
experience  he  is  able  to  carry  the  dynamic  of  per- 
sonal spiritual  life  to  the  continent  of  our  savage 
ancestors  in  Europe. 

Jesus  alone  has  had  such  an  assurance  of  the 
future  that  he  could  share  it  with  the  human  race. 
The  bulk  of  mankind  has  been  held  under  religions 
of  fear,  where  dread  or  superstition  dominate  life. 
The  contagious  certainty  of  Jesus  in  the  absolute 
goodness  of  God  substitutes  faith  for  fear.  He  in- 
troduces men  to  God  so  that  they  become  at  home 
with  him.  His  introduction  leads  to  life-long  friend- 
ship. His  message  is  a  good  news  and  a  great  hope. 
Fear  is  expectation  of  coming  evil.  But  all  con- 
tingencies are  covered,  and  all  possibilities  of  evil 
can  be  worked  together  for  good  to  those  who  fol- 
low his  way  of  life.     He  promises  not  only  per- 


JESUS  CHRIST  43 

sonal  immortality,  but  the  final  consummation  and 
triumph  of  good  over  evil,  of  right  over  wrong,  in 
an  eternal  Kingdom  of  Good  Will.  The  spiritual 
hopes  of  an  enlightened  humanity  today  are  cen- 
tered in  him  and  derived  from  him. 

For  myself  I  try  to  think,  of  what  life  would  be 
to  me  without  Jesus  Christ,  but  I  find  it  impossible 
to  extricate  myself  or  my  conception  of  life  from 
him.  From  its  tap  root  to  its  tiniest  tendrils  life 
has  become  so  interwoven  and  bound  up  with  him 
that  it  is  inconceivable  without  him.  I  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  imagine  the  sun  blotted  out  of  the  heavens, 
or  the  landscape  of  life  with  the  light  of  eternal 
faith,  hope  and  love  faded  from  its  sky.  I  find  it  in- 
tellectually almost  impossible  to  conceive  of  life  as 
godless,  for  he  is  to  me  a  presence  that  is  not  to  be 
put  by,  and  in  him  I  live  and  move  and  have  my 
being.  But  if  I  were  to  force  myself  to  conceive 
of  Jesus  and  his  faith  in  the  loving  Father  as  torn 
from  me,  what  then?  Even  then  I  could  not  turn 
to  materialistic  atheism  because  I  could  not  sum- 
mon enough  credulity  to  embrace  its  irrational  con- 
ceptions, but  I  would  be  left  with  a  soulless  and 
impersonal  pantheism,  with  a  God  who  did  not  and 
could  not  care.  Upon  such  a  God  I  would  turn  my 
back,  and  even  if  Jesus  were  deluded  and  mistaken, 
I  would  render  my  last  homage  to  this  Galilean  car- 
penter dying  amid  the  wreck  of  his  dreams  and 
ideals  with  the  prayer  upon  his  lips,  "Father  for- 
give them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  I 
would  worship  this  defeated  man  as  higher  far,  and 
holier,  than  a  loveless  God.     But  Jesus,  and  faith 


U  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

and  love  in  human  life,  are  evidence  of  the  love  of 
God,  and  the  faith  we  have  received  from  him  is 
daily  validated  in  an  experience  that  is  slowly  mak- 
ing and  remaking  us,  as  it  made  him. 

Oh  for  words,  for  thought,  for  life  fine  enough 
to  tell  what  Jesus  is!  For  twenty-six  years  I  have 
worked  among  the  students  of  Asia,  and  in  the 
later  years  among  those  of  America  and  Europe.  I 
was  with  the  men  at  the  front  in  the  British  and 
later  in  the  American  army.  I  saw  much  of  human 
life  in  that  "hell"  called  war.  In  evangelistic  meet- 
ings and  in  personal  interviews  I  have  worked  among 
men  of  the  ten  great  religions  of  the  world.  It  has 
been  a  work  so  shallow  and  superficial  with  such 
measure  of  failure  that  I  have  often  been  ashamed 
to  continue  in  a  service  that  so  failed  to  rise  to  such 
an  opportunity.  But  East  and  West,  among  rich 
and  poor,  students  and  the  depressed  classes,  I  have 
seen  something  of  life.  I  have  known  something 
of  doubt  and  disappointment  and  the  loss  of  earthly 
loved  ones.  But  in  all  life  I  have  found  one  cen- 
tral reality,  one  foundation  for  faith,  one  experi- 
ence that  interprets  life  and  makes  it  whole.  I 
have  found  one  Person  who  brings  me  into  right 
adjustment  in  the  three  ultimate  relationships  of  life, 
with  God,  with  myself  and  with  my  fellow  men; 
one  who  is  my  very  life.    It  is  Jesus. 

Others  may  speculate  and  better  define,  but  I  have 
known  him  in  my  own  soul  since  first  I  knew  what 
life  was.  And  I  have  seen  him  saving  wrecked  hu- 
manity in  a  score  of  nations,  in  many  religions 
among  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men.     I  have 


JESUS  CHRIST  45 

little  interest  in  metaphysical  speculation  and  no 
craving  for  orthodox  propriety,  but  for  myself  as 
I  face  this  man  I  say  with  all  the  allegiance  of  my 
soul,  My  Lord!  And  my  God  manifest  in  human 
life! 

Let  us  now  sum  up  the  evidence  and  ask  what 
is  the  significance  of  Jesus  in  facing  the  crisis  in 
the  world  today.  Think  of  the  character  of  Jesus, 
strong,  pure  and  loving.  Recall  the  moral  discovery 
of  his  teaching  of  God  as  Father,  of  man  as 
brother,  of  duty  as  the  revealed  will  of  God,  of 
destiny  realized  in  his  Kingdom.  Think  next  of  his 
unique  relation  both  to  God  and  to  man.  Here  is 
one  who  is  able  to  bring  God  to  man  and  man  to 
God,  who  is  both  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man, 
supreme  revelation  of  God  and  Saviour  of  humanity, 
the  touchstone  of  destiny,  the  standard  of  judgment, 
and  the  hope  of  eternal  life.  Think  then  of  the 
historic  effects  of  his  life,  whether  or  not  he  has 
fulfilled  his  claims  and  has  made  God  real  to  multi- 
tudes of  men.  Think  of  the  effects  of  his  life  on 
society,  the  influence  of  his  teaching  on  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  on  the  uplift  of  childhood,  woman- 
hood, manhood;  the  healing  of  the  sick,  the  relief  of 
the  poor,  the  realization  of  social  justice,  the  en- 
lightenment of  the  ignorant,  the  saving  of  the  sin- 
ful. Recall  the  strong  contrasts  and  paradoxes  of 
his  life  in  which  he  transcends  his  limitations  and 
his  environment  and  stands  unique  and  alone  in  hu- 
man history.  Contemplate  the  vast  temple  of  human 
knowledge,  and  ask  if  he  is  not  indeed  the  keystone 
of   the   otherwise  broken   and   incomplete   arch   of 


46  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

science,  philosophy,  art,  morality,  religion,  and  of 
all  human  experience.  Put  his  claims  to  the  proof 
and  see  if  he  meets  the  test  of  personal  experience 
for  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future. 

Who  then  is  this?  Can  we  deny  that  God  was 
in  him  in  some  unique  way?  Was  he  a  mere  village 
carpenter,  or  in  truth  the  Christ  of  humanity?  As 
we  ask  him,  with  his  judges  and  persecutors  of  old, 
"Art  thou  the  Christ,  the  anointed  of  God?"  He 
answers  clearly  and  simply,  from  the  depth  of  his 
consciousness,  "I  am."  And  as  he  questions  us 
like  Simon  Peter,  "Who  do  you  say  that  I  am?"  are 
we  not  constrained  to  reply  with  Simon,  "Thou  art 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God"?  As  we 
feel  the  influence  of  his  life  upon  us,  shall  we  not 
rise  up  at  his  call,  "Come  and  follow  me"?  Not  in 
abstract  reasoning  or  empty  theory  but  in  actual 
experience,  as  we  seek  to  follow  Jesus'  way  of  life, 
we  shall  find  him  indeed  the  supreme  manifesta- 
tion of  God. 


II 

GOD 


Is  there  a  God?  Can  his  existence  be  proved,  or 
is  there  adequate  rational  ground  for  belief  in  a 
Divine  Being?     If  so  what  is  his  nature? 

If  we  were  asked  to  prove  the  existence  of  God, 
we  would  have  to  admit  that  philosophy  alone  can- 
not absolutely  prove  anything.     As  Tennyson  says, 

"For  nothing  worthy  proving  can  be  proven, 
Nor  yet  disproven."  x 

In  the  realm  of  mathematics,  we  can  see  that  two 
and  two  make  four;  practically  or  mathematically  we 
can  demonstrate  it,  but  philosophy  cannot  prove  the 
necessary  validity  of  our  perception  or  of  our  rea- 
soning process.  Philosophy  alone  cannot  prove  or 
disprove  the  existence  of  matter  or  of  the  soul.  I 
know  that  I   am,  but  cannot  prove  what  I   am. 

1  "Thou  canst  not  prove  the  Nameless,  O  my  son, 
Thou  canst  not  prove  the  world  thou  movest  in, 
Thou  canst  not  prove  that  thou  art  body  alone, 
Nor  canst  thou  prove  that  thou  art  spirit  alone, 
Nor  canst  thou  prove  that  thou  art  both  in  one: 
Thou  canst  not  prove  that  thou  art  immortal,  no, 
Nor  yet  that  thou  art  mortal — nay,  my  son, 
Thou  canst  not  prove  that  I,  who  speak  with  thee, 
Am  not  thyself  in  converse  with  thyself, 
For  nothing  worthy  proving  can  be  proven 
Nor  yet  disproven:  wherefore  then  be  wise, 
Cleave  ever  to  the  sunnier  side  of  doubt, 
And  cling  to  faith  beyond  the  forms  of  faith." 
47 


48  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

Philosophy  cannot  prove  or  disprove  either  the 
existence  or  the  character  of  your  own  mother.  But 
you  need  no  philosophical  proof  in  the  realm  of 
personal  experience.  Philosophy  did  not  give  you 
your  mother  nor  can  it  take  her  away.  Philosophy 
does  not  give  us  God  nor  can  it  take  him  away.  Just 
as  you  came  to  know  your  mother  you  may  come  to 
know  God  in  a  vital  experience  and  in  a  personal  re- 
lation answering  to  your  own  need. 

We  shall  find  that  God  is  not  so  much  the  con- 
clusion of  one  argument  as  the  necessary  ground 
of  every  argument  and  of  all  experience.  As  Ches- 
terton says:  "God  is  like  the  sun.  He  is  the  one 
object  in  the  world  at  which  we  cannot  steadfastly 
gaze,  yet  in  the  light  of  which  we  see  everything 
else."  We  cannot  find  God  by  the  reason  alone 
as  Martineau  shows,  any  more  than  we  can  find 
the  scent  of  a  rose  with  our  fingers.  But  we  can  find 
God  in  experience  and  then  justify  that  experience 
upon  rational  grounds.  As  Tolstoi  says,  "It  is  not 
the  mind  by  which  we  know  God;  it  is  life  through 
which  we  come  to  know  him."  Like  Donald  Han- 
key,  wounded  and  dying  alone  upon  the  battlefield, 
we  may  find  "God!  God  everywhere — and  under- 
neath, the  everlasting  arms." 

Perhaps  we  shall  get  light  upon  our  problem  if  we 
assume  the  opposite  of  belief  in  God  and  see  where 
the  materialistic  view  of  life  leads  us.  If  we  can 
find  no  ultimate  resting  place  in  dualism,  in  agnos- 
ticism or  in  pantheism,  of  which  lack  of  space  for- 
bids discussion  here,  we  shall  have  to  choose  between 


GOD  49 

a  theistic  or  a  material  interpretation  of  the  uni- 
verse. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the  materialistic 
view  of  life.1  Let  us  suppose  that  matter  and  force 
make  up  the  sum  of  existence,  that  mind  is  but  a 
function  of  matter,  that  there  is  no  soul  to  survive 
the  body  and  no  God  who  creates  or  guides  the  uni- 
verse. 

Does  this  materialistic  view  satisfy  the  mind  or 
does  it  correspond  with  the  facts  of  man's  higher 
life?  Can  it  account  for  the  origin  of  matter,  of 
life,  of  mind,  in  the  light  of  their  full  development, 
or  give  an  adequate  cause  of  the  marvelous  universe 
about  us?  Does  it  satisfy  the  heart,  to  tell  man  that 
he  must  die  as  an  animal,  with  no  hope  of  meeting 
his  loved  ones  again?  Does  it  satisfy  the  will,  if,  as 
Spinoza  shows,  man's  power  is  infinitely  surpassed 
by  the  vast  universe  about  him,  and  the  individual  is 
left  with  no  possibility  of  realizing  all  the  capacities 
and  desires  of  his  nature  which  crave  life  abundant 
and  eternal?     Does  it  satisfy  the  conscience,  if,  as 

1  Is  there  any  criterion  by  which  we  may  judge  the  various 
philosophies  or  solutions  proposed?  To  the  realist,  ideas  that 
correspond  with  facts  are  true;  to  the  pragmatist  ideas  that  work 
are  valid.  The  writer  himself  can  only  accept  a  philosophy  of 
life  as  true  which  will  interpret  its  full  meaning  and  which  will 
fully  develop  and  satisfy  the  whole  nature  of  man.  It  must 
meet  the  test  of  self-realization.  It  must  satisfy  the  mind  and  be 
rational.  It  must  satisfy  the  heart  in  its  loneliness  and  longing. 
It  must  satisfy  the  will,  as  pragmatic  and  practical,  and  reenforce 
its  feeble  and  failing  endeavor.  It  must  satisfy  the  conscience,  as 
truly  ethical.  Finally,  it  must  satisfy  the  religious  nature  in  its 
longing  for  adjustment  to  life.  Further  we  must  recognize  that  in 
a  growing  world  our  philosophy  of  life  must  grow  with  our  world. 
Truth  is  not  final  and  fixed.  It  is  growing,  dynamic.  While  I 
seek  the  truth  which  will  meet  the  tests  for  life  as  I  am  facing  it 
now,  I  must  look  forward  to  growing  in  truth  as  I  grow  in  life. 


V 


50  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

Professor  James  shows,  it  ends  in  a  wreck  and  de- 
nies that  the  moral  order  is  supreme?  Does  it  meet 
the  demand  of  the  religious  nature,  if  it  denies  any 
ultimate  object  of  worship,  fails  to  disclose  the 
source  and  ground  of  life,  and  leaves  the  deepest 
longings  of  man's  nature  unsatisfied? 

The  materialistic  view  not  only  fails  to  satisfy  and 
develop  man's  whole  nature,  but  it  also  completely 
fails  to  bring  him  into  right  adjustment  in  the  three 
ultimate  relationships  of  life.  By  its  denial  of 
God  it  admits  of  no  adequate  source  and  ground  of 
life;  it  does  not  raise  personality  to  the  full  height 
of  its  possibilites,  and  it  has  always  lacked  social 
value;  for  it  has  not  produced  the  great  prophets, 
martyrs  and  reformers  as  the  supreme  servants  of 
the  race.  It  does  not  give  us  any  basis  for  solving 
our  problems  in  facing  the  crisis  in  the  world  today. 
It  can  offer  only  a  stone  in  place  of  bread  to  hun- 
gry Russia,  famished  in  body  and  soul. 

Professor  Clarke  in  his  book  "Can  We  Believe  in 
God  the  Father"  has  shown  that  if  there  is  no  God 
then  there  is  no  supreme  mind :  the  world  as  a  whole 
has  never  been  thought  or  loved  or  willed.  If  there 
were  no  mind  apart  from  the  brain  of  the  individual 
then  there  could  be  no  science,  for  science  depends 
on  an  ordered,  rational  world,  and  it  implies  two 
minds,  the  one  producing  and  the  other  understand- 
ing. If  there  is  no  God  and  no  supreme  mind,  then 
nothing  ever  has  been  or  ever  will  be  fully  known; 
for  each  individual  knows  but  an  infinitesimal  frac- 
tion of  reality.  If  there  is  no  God  then  there  is  no 
universal  heart  in  the  universe.     There  could  then 


GOD  51 

be  no  true  religion,  no  answered  prayer,  no  logical 
place  for  worship,  no  adequate  ground  of  absolute 
moral  obligation.  As  Professor  Tyndall  says:  "I 
have  noticed  during  years  of  self  observation  that 
it  is  not  in  hours  of  clearness  and  of  vigor  that 
this  doctrine  (of  materialism)  commends  itself  to 
my  mind."  It  is  impossible  for  the  materialist  to 
prove  his  point  without  violating  the  law  of  the 
"pragmatic  imperative."  He  makes  use  of  mind 
to  disprove  itself. 

Materialism  has  failed  as  a  philosophy  of  life. 
It  has  failed  yet  more  miserably  as  a  practical  way 
of  living.  It  disproved  itself  pragmatically  in  the 
applied  doctrine  of  Prussian  militarism  in  the  re- 
cent war. 

Since  we  cannot  attain  to  absolute  proof  in  any 
sphere  of  life,  let  us  ask  if  it  is  reasonable  to  be- 
lieve in  God.  We  may  start  with  probability  as 
the  guide  of  life  and  seek  to  verify  by  progressive 
experience,  holding  that  to  be  true  which  is  capable 
of  repeated  verification.  Practically  all  the  greatest 
thinkers  have  admitted  the  existence  of  God  in  some 
sense.  The  real  question  is,  What  is  his  charac- 
ter? Even  Herbert  Spencer  admits  that  we  are 
everywhere  "in  the  presence  of  an  infinite  and  eter- 
nal energy,"  and  that,  "the  power  manifested 
throughout  the  universe  distinguished  as  material 
is  the  same  power  which  in  ourselves  wells  up  in 
the  form  of  consciousness."  At  first  we  may  take 
the  word  "God"  to  denote  the  cause,  the  ground, 
the  principles  and  laws  underlying  the  world.  Later 
we  may  proceed  to  seek  evidence  of  the  Christian 


52  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

conception  of  God  as  a  cosmic  Spirit  of  creative  and 
redemptive  love  who  is  working  to  achieve  a  spir- 
itual universe. 

As  a  basis  of  all  thought  and  of  practical  living 
we  are  compelled  to  postulate  that  the  universe, 
so  orderly  and  intelligible,  which  everywhere  con- 
forms to  law,  is  in  its  implications  rational  and 
trustworthy.  All  science,  all  philosophy,  all  thought 
compel  us  to  view  the  world  as  reasonable.  We  look 
out  upon  a  universe  that  has  something  in  common 
with  our  own  mind.  If  then  the  world  is  intelligible 
it  is  not  merely  dead  matter.  There  is  a  corre- 
spondence between  a  rational  mind  and  a  rational 
universe.  All  our  education  implies  this,  for  reason 
can  only  exist  in  a  reasonable  world.  In  actual  ex- 
perience, apart  from  the  problem  of  evil  which  we 
shall  consider  later,  we  find  nature  rational  through 
and  through,  from  the  microcosm  of  the  atom  to 
the  unity  of  the  universe  as  a  whole. 

As  Eucken  shows,  "To  every  thinking  man  there 
comes  the  great  alternative — either,  or— either 
there  is  something  higher  than  this  humanistic  cul- 
ture, or  life  ceases  to  have  any  meaning  or  value." 
Darwin  also  adds  his  testimony,  "If  we  consider  the 
whole  universe  the  mind  refuses  to  look  upon  it  as 
the  outcome  of  chance."  If,  therefore,  we  are  forced 
to  postulate  the  universe  as  reasonable  and  trust- 
worthy it  is  because  it  has  some  rational  and  reliable 
ground. 

All  students  of  philosophy  are  acquainted  with 
the  three  ancient  arguments  for  the  existence  of 
God — the  Ontological,  the  Cosmological,  and  the 


GOD  53 

Teleological.  The  Ontological  maintains  that  the 
reality  of  God  is  involved  in  the  idea  of  God.  The 
Cosmological  argues  from  the  character  of  the  world 
of  cause  and  effect,  to  a  first  cause,  God.  The 
Teleological  argument  discerning  the  presence  of 
order  as  an  evidence  of  design,  and  observing  that 
things  conform  to  ends,  argues  the  reality  of  a  de- 
signer as  its  source,  that  God  must  be  the  single 
reason  on  which  the  ordered  universe  depends.  If 
we  add  to  the  above  three  the  moral  and  religious 
arguments,  we  may  agree  with  Professor  Flint,  that 
"the  universe  owes  its  existence  and  its  continuance 
in  existence  to  the  reason  and  will  of  a  self-existent 
Being  who  is  infinitely  powerful,  wise  and  good." 

No  single  argument  seems  convincingly  to  prove 
the  existence  of  God.  Yet  if  I  may  speak  personally, 
God  is  as  real  to  me  as  my  own  existence,  "a  pres- 
ence that  is  not  to  be  put  by,"  the  One  in  whom  I 
live  and  move  and  have  my  being,  the  one  central 
certainty  of  my  life.  If  I  were  pressed  for  evidence 
I  would  state  that  for  myself  I  believe  in  God  for 
three  reasons.  Taken  together  I  find  them  a  three- 
fold cord  not  easily  broken. 

First,  I  believe  in  God  because  of  the  demand  of 
my  entire  nature  and  the  evidence  of  the  entire  uni- 
verse that  cannot  be  explained  without  God. 

Second.  The  God  that  my  nature  demands  and 
of  whom  the  universe  gives  evidence,  I  find  increas- 
ingly revealed  in  human  life  and  history  through  the 
great  prophets  of  the  race,  culminating  in  the  revela- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ. 

Third.     The  God  that  my  nature  demands  and 


54.  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

that  human  life  reveals  in  the  Jesus  of  history*  I 
have  come  to  know  in  joyous  personal  experience. 
And  my  own  experience  is  confirmed  and  validated 
by  that  of  thousands  in  every  land  and  through 
succeeding  centuries.3 

Let  me  endeavor  to  state  these  as  clearly  and 
as  simply  as  I  can,  avoiding  the  use  of  technical 
terms. 

i.  My  mind  demands  an  adequate  cause  for  the 
solid  fact  of  the  universe  as  it  is.  I  look  out  upon 
the  world  and  everywhere  see  evidence  of  mind  both 
in  man  and  in  nature.  Thus,  adequate  to  the  whole 
rational  universe,  there  must  be  a  Mind  as  the 
cause  of  it,  and  that  Mind  I  shall  call  God. 

Supposing  I  pick  up  a  daily  newspaper.  Can  I 
believe  that  the  paper  made  itself  or  that  the  type 
set  itself,  or  that  it  is  a  fortuitous  work  of  chance? 
No,  if  it  brings  a  message  to  my  mind,  that  can  only 
be  because  there  is  a  mind  behind  it,  a  mind  that 
thought  and  made  it.  If  the  newspaper  could  not 
make  itself,  how  then  could  the  vast  and  ordered 
universe  make  itself  or  be  the  work  of  chance?  I 
pluck  a  "little  flower  from  the  crannied  wall"  and 
with  every  thinking  mind  before  me  my  thought  is 
driven  back  to  the  great  Mind  which  must  be  the 
cause  of  it,  that  has  expressed  itself  in  the  thought 

1  Thus  Tolstoi  in  his  "Confession"  says,  "I  only  lived  at  those 
times  when  I  believed  in  God.  I  need  only  be  aware  of  God  to 
live;  I  need  only  to  forget  him  or  to  disbelieve  in  him,  to  die.  .  .  . 
To  know  God  and  to  live  is  one  and  the  same  thing.  .  .  .  And  the 
light  did  not  again  abandon  one.  ...  I  returned  to  the  belief  that 
the  chief  and  only  aim  of  my  life  is  to  be  better,  i.e.,  to  live  in  ac- 
cord with  that  Will.  ...  I  returned  to  a  belief  in  God,  in  moral 
perfecting,  and  in  a  tradition  transmitting  the  meaning  of  life." — 
Aylmer  Maude,  "Life  of  Tolstoi,"  I,  pp.  417-18. 


GOD  55 

and  beauty  of  the  flower  and  of  the  entire  universe. 

2.  My  heart  cries  outj  for  comfort  and  com- 
panionship in  its  loneliness  and  longing.  As  life 
stretches  on  through  suffering,  sorrow,  sickness, 
separation  and  the  death  of  earthly  loved  ones,  ulti- 
mately I  crave  a  "Great  Companion."  I  look  out 
upon  a  world  of  human  love,  the  love  of  the  mother 
for  her  child,  the  love  of  the  patriot,  the  hero,  the 
martyr,  the  saint.  I  see  the  love  of  Christ  upon  the 
cross,  as  he  cried,  "Father,  forgive  them  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do."  What  is  the  source  of  this 
love?  Is  it  from  mud,  from  matter,  from  star  dust, 
from  "cosmic  ether"?  As  Pascal  says,  "The  heart 
has  its  reasons  of  which  the  reason  knows  nothing." 
It  rises  "like  a  man  in  wrath  against  the  freezing 
reason's  colder  part."  If  there  is  such  love  in  the 
universe  it  must  be  in  the  cause  and  heart  of  it.  If 
love  has  been  evolved  in  the  effect,  it  must  have  been 
involved  in  the  cause,  and  we  are  driven  back  with 
the  men  of  twenty  centuries  of  repeated  Christian 
experience  to  a  God  of  love,  as  we  cry  with  Augus- 
tine of  old,  "Thou  hast  made  us  for  Thyself  and 
the  heart  is  restless  till  it  rests  in  Thee." 

3.  My  will  needs  help.  I  look  out  on  a  wide 
world  of  power,  power  immanent  in  every  electron 
and  atom  and  in  the  incalculable  force  of  the  entire 
universe.  I  see  not  only  evidence  of  power,  but 
apparently  also  of  purpose  and  of  plan,  for  it  is  a 
cosmos  not  a  chaos,  a  universe,  not  a  multiverse. 
But  purpose  and  plan  as  we  know  them  in  experi- 
ence are  found  only  in  connection  with  a  personal 


56  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

will.     Back  in  the  heart  of  the  universe  there  must 
be  power,  purpose  and  plan. 

4.  My  conscience  rises  with  the  categorical  im- 
perative "I  ought"  or  in  old  English  "I  owe."  To 
what  or  to  whom  do  I  owe  it?  I  look  within  at 
conscience  and  see  a  purpose  that  is  apparently  not 
my  own,  for  I  resist  it  and  strive  against  it.  It 
dominates  and  finally  overcomes  me.  Whence  this 
purpose  if  not  from  a  mighty  Purposer  that  speaks 
in  the  universal  and  evolving  conscience  of  the  race? 
What  is  the  meaning  of  this  whisper  of  conscience, 
and  why  is  the  world  in  harmony  with  right  ? * 

From  conscience  within  I  look  out  upon  a  world 
of  men  and  upon  a  universe  that  seems  to  give  evi- 
dence of  a  moral  order.  Whence  this  demand  of 
conscience  and  of  a  moral  order  save  in  the  moral 
goodness  of  God? 

5.  My  religious  nature  most  of  all  demands  God. 
If  religion  is  conceived  subjectively  as  spiritual  self 
realization,  experience  shows  that  no  man  can  fully 
develop  his  personality  without  it.     No  tribe  or  na- 

1Erskine  of  Linlathen  says:  "When  I  attentively  consider  what 
is  going  on  in  my  conscience,  the  chief  thing  forced  on  my  notice  is, 
that  I  find  myself  face  to  face  with  a  purpose — not  my  own,  for  I 
am  often  conscious  of  resisting  it,  but  which  dominates  me,  and 
makes  itself  felt  as  ever  present,  as  the  very  root  and  reason  of  my 
being.  .  .  .  This  consciousness  of  a  purpose  concerning  me  that  I 
should  be  a  good  man — right,  true,  and  unselfish — is  the  first  firm 
footing  I  have  in  the  region  of  religious  thought;  for  I  cannot 
dissociate  the  idea  of  a  purpose  from  that  of  a  Purposer;  and  I 
cannot  but  identify  this  Purposer  with  the  Author  of  my  being 
and  the  being  of  all  beings,  and  further,  I  cannot  but  regard  his 
purpose  toward  me  as  the  unmistakable  indication  of  his  own 
character.  A  righteous  Being  is  at  the  helm  if  there  is  a  moral 
purpose  underlying  the  course  of  things."  So  Kant  testifies:  "Two 
things  fill  my  soul  with  awe:  the  starry  firmament  above  me  and 
the  moral  law  within  me." 


GOD  57 

tion  has  yet  been  found  without  the  beginnings  of 
this  universal,  normal  human  capacity  and  experi- 
ence. Such  a  book  as  Professor  James'  "Varieties 
of  Religious  Experience,"  drawn  from  a  wide 
range  of  human  life,  leads  us  to  the  conclusion  that 
religion  is  an  objective  reality  and  a  valid  experi- 
ence. We  may  add  to  the  history  of  nineteen 
Christian  centuries  the  longer  record  of  Judaism. 
We  may  support  this  by  the  experience  of  India 
which  for  some  three  thousand  years  has  held  the 
unbroken  conviction  of  God  as  the  great  reality  of 
life,  so  sure  of  him  that  it  has  never  needed  an  argu- 
ment to  prove  his  existence.  We  may  add  the  tes- 
timony of  five  thousand  years  of  the  religions  of 
Egypt  and  of  the  ancient  world,  only  to  find  that 
man  always  and  everywhere  is  "incurably  religious," 
that  he  prays  "because  he  cannot  help  praying,"  be- 
cause it  is  as  natural  and  as  inevitable  as  breathing. 
Has  man's  universal  experience  of  religion  and  his 
main  motive  of  progress  been  based  upon  an  un- 
truth ? x 


1  In  the  realization  of  God's  presence  in  human  life  there  is  pro- 
found significance  in  the  verse:  "Where  two  or  three  are  met 
together  in  my  name  there  I  am  in  the  midst."  Social  Psychology  is 
throwing  light  on  the  process  in  such  a  fellowship.  The  "group 
mind"  and  the  "social  will"  do  not  mean  a  mysterious,  mystical 
something  which  hovers  over  the  group.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
represent  something  different  from  the  "mob  mind,"  the  unthinking 
will  of  a  crowd.  These  terms  simply  recognize  the  fact  that  in 
free  and  open-minded  discussion  thoughts  are  stimulated,  solutions 
to  problems  are  arrived  at,  bigger  and  better  than  any  one  of  the 
group  could  have  suggested  or  than  the  unrelated  totality  of  the 
group  working  separately.  The  process,  in  turn,  fuses  the  group 
into  a  unity  of  purpose  and  will  which  stimulates  individual  and 
united  action. 

Now  if  the  immanence  of  God  in  human  life  is  recognized,  this 
"group  mind,"  this  "social  will"  forged  out  of  such  a  fellowship 


58  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

Let  us  take  now  this  five-fold  demand  of  my  mind 
for  an  adequate  Cause,  of  my  heart  for  a  Great 
Companion,  of  my  will  for  a  mighty  Power,  of  my 
conscience  for  one  who  is  morally  Good,  and  of  my 
religious  nature  for  a  God  answering  to  my  need. 
My  whole  nature  and  the  whole  universe  demands 
God. 

If  personality  in  man  is  found  to  consist  of  a 
loving,  intelligent  will,  unified  in  self-consciousness; 
and  if  I  see  truth,  beauty  and  goodness  unified  in 
an  ordered  universe,  then  I  must  conceive  of  God  as 
an  infinite  thinker,  lover,  and  wilier,  the  all  loving 
intelligent  Will,  a  personal  God,  in  whom  the  uni- 
verse is  unified  and  grounded.1 

Secondly,  the  God  that  my  whole  nature  and 
the  universe  demands  and  requires  I  find  growingly 
revealed  in  human  life,  especially  in  the  life  and 

of  earnest  Christians  in  thought  and  prayer  may  well  represent 
more  of  the  will  of  God  for  that  group  than  the  thought  of  any- 
one  of  the   group. 

bishop  Gore  in  his  "Belief  in  God"  writes,  "I  cannot  hold  the 
conception  of  mind  or  of  truth  or  of  purpose  or  of  righteousness 
except  on  the  background  of  personality.  ...  If  personality  is  the 
highest  known  thing,  must  not  God  be  at  least  that  highest  thing?" 

Marcus  Aurelius  could  write:  "The  world  is  either  a  welter 
...  or  a  unity  of  order  and  providence.  If  the  former,  why  do  I 
care  about  anything  else  than  how  shall  I  at  last  become  earth. 
But  on  the  other  alternative  I  feel  reverence.  I  stand  steadfast  .  .  . 
I  find  heart  in  the  power  that  disposes  all."  Men  have  felt  a  con- 
tradiction between  the  natural  and  the  moral  order,  between  the 
realm  of  nature  and  the  realm  of  things,  between  what  is  and 
what  ought  to  be,  between  the  actual  and  the  ideal.  This  contra- 
diction can  only  be  reconciled  in  a  free  will  choosing  the  good, 
and  the  two  worlds  at  present  apparently  contradictory  can  only 
be  explained  by  a  God  working  out  a  moral  purpose  in  a  devel- 
oping world.  Conscience  is  subordinate  to  an  eternal  goodness. 
"A  power  not  ourselves  that  makes  for  righteousness."  See  Sorely 
— "Moral  Values  and  the  Idea  of  God." 


GOD  59 

teaching  of  the  prophets,  finally  culminating  in  the 
revelation  of  Jesus.  In  his  simple  life,  in  his  teach- 
ings, in  his  unique  consciousness,  he  seems  ever  to 
dwell  immediately  in  the  very  presence  of  God,  and 
this  faith  of  his  was  contagious.  He  never  argues 
about  God,  never  labors  to  prove  him.  Rather, 
he  teaches  men  how  to  find  him  for  themselves. 
Actually  as  an  historic  fact,  in  his  presence  men 
found  God.  Yet  this  experience  was  not  dependent 
upon  his  physical  presence  and  throughout  the  nine- 
teen centuries  it  has  been  capable  of  repeated  veri- 
fication. 

To  the  mind,  Jesus  reveals  God  as  all  wise — 
"Your  Father  knoweth";  to  the  heart  he  reveals 
him  as  all  loving — "the  Father  himself  loveth  you," 
"Love  your  enemies  that  you  may  be  sons  of  your 
Father  who  sendeth  his  rain  upon  the  just  and  the 
unjust  and  maketh  his  sun  to  shine  upon  the  evil 
and  the  good."  To  our  weak  will  Jesus  reveals  God 
as  all  powerful — "All  things  are  possible  with  God." 
To  our  conscience  he  is  all  holy — "Holy  Father," 
"Hallowed  be  Thy  name."  To  our  religious  nature 
he  is  "Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven."  He  is  thus 
"the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
Somehow  through  Jesus,  historically  and  experi- 
mentally, we  have  been  introduced  into  an  utterly 
new  conception  and  experience  of  God.  We  have 
passed  into  a  realm  of  the  certainty  of  experience 
that  no  labored  argument,  no  cold  syllogism  of  logic 
could  give  us.  To  philosophy  God  may  be  an  hypo- 
thesis, a  postulate,  a  cause,  a  first  principle,  an  ab- 


KJ 


60  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

solute,  but  sharing  the  experience  of  Jesus  he  be- 
comes our  Father.1 

Finally,  the  God  that  my  nature  demands  and  of 
whom  the  whole  universe  gives  evidence,  the  God 
that  is  revealed  in  human  history,  in  the  prophets 
and  in  Jesus,  I  have  found  in  personal,  vital  experi- 
ence, for  God  has  become  to  me  the  one  central 
certainty  of  life.  To  my  mind  I  have  found  him  a 
God  of  wisdom — "How  unsearchable  are  his  judg- 
ments and  his  wisdom  past  finding  out."  In  my 
heart  I  have  found  that  "God  is  love,"  and  love, 
creation's  final  law.  For  my  weak  will  I  have  found 
that  he  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above 
all  I  can  ask  or  think.  My  conscience  joins  the 
everlasting  chorus  of  human  experience  in  the 
church  militant  and  triumphant  throughout  the  ages 
saying,  "Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty." 
And  to  my  religious  nature  he  has  indeed  become  the 
God  and  Father  of  Jesus. 

If  the  reader  will  pardon  a  very  personal  testi- 
mony, I  desire  to  say  a  word  as  to  the  reality  of 

1Thus  with  Plato  we  pass  from  a  bridge  of  philosophic  argu- 
ment, or  from  a  perilous  "raft"  on  the  seas  of  fortune,  to  a  more 
sure  "divine  word," — "It  seems  to  me,  Socrates,  as  to  you  also,  I 
fancy,  that  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  in  this  present  life 
to  have  clear  knowledge  concerning  such  subjects;  but  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  the  mark  of  a  faint-hearted  spirit  to  desist  from 
examining  all  that  is  said  about  them  in  every  way,  or  to  abandon 
the  search  so  long  as  there  is  any  chance  of  light  anywhere.  For 
on  such  subjects  one  ought  to  secure  one  of  two  things,  either  to 
learn  or  discover  the  truth,  or,  if  this  is  impossible,  at  least  to 
get  the  best  of  human  argument  and  the  hardest  to  refute,  and 
relying  on  this  as  on  a  raft,  to  sail  the  perilous  sea  of  life,  unless 
one  were  able,  more  securely  and  less  perilously,  to  make  one's 
journey  upon  a  safer  vessel — upon  some  divine  word." — Plato, 
Phaedo,  85  C.  D.  Quoted  from  "Belief  in  God,"  by  Bishop  Gore, 
p.  68. 


GOD  61 

God  in  my  own  experience.  In  1897  I  came  to  the 
darkest  day  in  my  life.  I  had  miserably  failed  in 
my  own  character  and  in  my  service.  I  was  dis- 
couraged, bitter,  rebellious.  Somehow  I  had  missed 
the  mark  and  lost  the  way  in  life.  After  a  sleep- 
less night,  I  cried  to  God  as  my  Father  to  show 
me  the  way  out.  Then  in  a  moment,  without  any 
special  emotion  or  excitement,  one  simple  word  re- 
ceived in  faith  changed  life  forever.  I  did  not  then 
know  that  it  was  "forever"  but  for  twenty-five  years 
since  that  day  God  has  been  the  abiding  reality  of 
my  life  and  I  have  no  fears  for  the  future.  And  this 
was  the  word — "Anyone  who  drinks  this  water  will 
be  thirsty  again  but  anyone  who  drinks  the  water  I 
shall  give  him  will  never  thirst  any  more;  the  water 
I  shall  give  him  will  turn  into  a  spring  of  water 
welling  up  to  eternal  life."  s  The  waters  of  this 
earth,  wealth,  pleasure,  power,  ambition,  "the  lust 
of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes  and  the  pride  of 
life"  do  not  satisfy,  for  the  reason  that  man  was 
made  for  higher  things.  But  God  does  satisfy,  for 
happiness  is  found  in  the  harmonious  exercise  of 
function,  in  full  correspondence  with  the  ultimate 
environment  of  the  soul,  which  is  God. 

I  thought  how  glorious  that  would  be  to  "never 
thirst  any  more,"  but  I  could  never  hold  out,  I  would 
forget  and  lose  my  grip  as  I  had  in  the  past.  But 
then  the  thought  came,  could  I  trust,  could  I  drink, 
could  I  live  this  way  for  one  day,  for  I  will  never 
have  to  live  but  one  day  at  a  time.     Yes,  I  said,  I 

1John   4:14.      Moffatt's    translation    which    is    prevailingly    fol- 
lowed throughout  this  book. 


62  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

will  try  it.  I  will  test  the  promise  and  begin  to 
drink,  living  one  day  at  a  time  by  faith.  I  will 
endeavor  to  live  upon  God,  to  draw  my  life 
from  him  as  the  spiritual  environment  of  the  soul, 
as  simply  as  I  would  drink,  or  eat,  or  breathe,  in 
correspondence  with  the  physical  environment. 

That  day  I  began.  Twenty-five  years  have  passed 
but  the  thirst  of  the  former  years  has  never  come 
back — no,  not  for  an  hour!  There  has  not  been  an 
hour  of  darkness  or  despair,  and,  I  mean  it  literally, 
not  an  hour  of  discouragement.  I  have  often  failed 
him.  I  have  never  been  satisfied  with  myself,  or  my 
service,  I  have  often  sinned.  It  would  be  sheer  dis- 
honesty to  imply  anything  else.  But  he  has  never 
failed  me.  And  he  has  kept  his  promise.  He  is  my 
portion,  my  satisfaction,  my  life ;  for  it  is  not  what 
I  am  to  him,  but  what  he  is  to  me  that  determines 
life. 

And  experimentally  it  is  in  the  continuous  pres- 
ent. We  drink  the  well  once  for  all,  as  it  were 
(the  Greek  tense  is  in  the  aorist),  but  thenceforth 
we  drink  continuously  of  the  inward  spring.  It 
does  not  say  "Whosoever  drank  in  the  past,"  but 
"anyone  who  drinks"  and  keeps  drinking,  for  just 
so  long  he  "will  never  thirst  any  more."  This  ex- 
perience, or  rather  God  himself,  as  revealed  in 
Jesus,  has  become  to  me  the  perennial  inward  moral 
miracle,  the  central  certainty,  the  daily  joyous  dis- 
covery of  the  great  adventure  of  life.  I  have  made 
an  almost  unbelievably  poor  response  to  this  experi- 
ence, but  I  can  no  more  deny  it  or  doubt  God  than 
I  can  doubt  my  own  existence.     Twenty-five  years 


GOD  63 

have  passed  and  that  joy  is  undimmed.  And  before 
God,  I  lie  not.  One  thing  I  know,  he  satisfies.  And 
such  an  experience  is  possible  for  all,  only  varying  in 
expression  according  to  temperament  and  training. 
"If  any  man  thirst  let  him  come  and  drink." 

The  sum  total  of  it  all  comes  to  this;  that  God 
is  always  and  everywhere  like  Jesus.  Were  it 
otherwise 

"The  loving  worm  within  its  clod 
Were   diviner    than    a   loveless    God." 

Were  it  otherwise,  Jesus  with  his  sublime  love  upon 
the  cross,  praying,  "Father  forgive  them,"  would 
be  higher  and  more  divine  than  God  himself.  But 
Jesus  is  a  fact  that  must  be  accounted  for.  Our 
definition  of  "God"  as  the  adequate  cause  underly- 
ing the  world,  must  be  interpreted  by  the  highest 
not  by  the  lowest.1  Are  we  to  place  Jesus  above 
God  in  love,  or  must  we  enlarge  our  definition  of 
God  to  take  in  the  love  of  Jesus  and  all  the  good, 
the  true  and  the  beautiful  in  life? 

We  must  account  for  the  good  in  Jesus  and  the 
best  in  ourselves.  In  the  end  we  must  "accept  as 
real  that  to  which  the  best  in  us  irresistibly  points." 
There  is  that  within  us  which  we  cannot  deny  with- 
out surrendering  our  moral  integrity  and  ceasing  to 
be  ourselves.  "We  needs  must  love  the  highest 
when  we  see  it,"  and  we  needs  must  believe  the  best 
within  our  own  souls  and  in  all  life.    We  must  live 

1  "The  relations  between  man  and  God  have,  in  the  course  of 
religious  history,  become  more  deeply  personal  and  passionate,  with 
the  deepening  sense  of  evil  and  spiritual  distress.  The  soul  finds 
at  length  its  divine  Companion." — Hocking,  "The  Meaning  of  God 
in  Human  Experience,"  p.  336. 


64  PACING  THE  CRISIS 

as  though  God  were  what  our  faith  claims  and  let 
faith  vindicate  itself  in  experience. 

Here  is  a  three-fold  evidence  that  cannot  easily  be 
broken.  It  is  interwoven  in  reason,  in  history,  in 
human  experience.  This  is  why  I  believe  in  God; 
as  the  demand  of  my  entire  nature  and  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  who  is  revealed  in  the  prophets  and  in  Jesus ; 
and  found  in  a  personal  experience  capable  of  re- 
peated verification.  This  God  is  our  God.  This 
God  may  be  your  God. 


Ill 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL 

How  can  we  believe  in  a  good  God  in  facing  the 
crisis  of  the  world  today  when  we  see  about  us  pain 
and  misery,  injustice  and  inhumanity,  poverty, 
privation,  famine  and  war  with  their  waste  of 
human  life? 

Is  there  any  solution  to  the  perennial  problem 
of  evil?  Why  should  there  be  evil  or  sin  in  a 
good  "world?  Can  we  find  any  meaning  in  a  life 
thus  conditioned  by  disease  and  death,  any  phil- 
osophy of  pain,  any  solvent  for  suffering? 

Like  the  poor,  the  problem  of  evil  is  always  with 
us.  It  touches  every  life.  Every  man  who  thinks 
at  all  must  face  it.  Down  the  centuries  it  has  been 
the  hardest  question  man  has  had  to  meet,  the  heavi- 
est burden  he  has  had  to  bear,  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lem of  his  existence.  In  a  good  world,  why  should 
there  be  any  evil?  Epicurus  writing  some  twenty- 
two  centuries  ago  well  states  the  dilemma  for  all 
time :  if  God  wishes  to  prevent  evil  but  cannot, 
then  he  is  impotent;  if  he  could  but  will  not,  he  is  . / 
malevolent;  if  he  has  both  the  power  and  the  will, 
whence  then  is  evil? 

If  we  were  to  state  the  answer  in  a  sentence  we 
should  say,  a  good  world  must  be  a  moral  world; 
a  moral  world  must  be  free;  a  free  moral  world 
must  be  one  of  gradual  development  under  the  dis- 
cipline of  suffering. 

65 


66  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

President  King,  summing  up  the  conviction  of 
many  writers,  states  what  he  believes  to  be  the  six 
prerequisites  of  moral  character:  some  genuine  free- 
dom of  volition  on  man's  part;  some  power  of  ac- 
complishment in  the  direction  of  his  volition;  an 
imperfect  developing  environment;  a  sphere  of 
laws;  that  men  should  be  members  one  of  another; 
and  that  therq  should  be  struggle  against  resis- 
tance.1 

If  you  should  say,  with  Omar  Khayyam,  that  you 
would  shatter  to  bits  this  sorry  scheme  of  things  en- 
tire, and  then  remold  it  nearer  to  the  hearts'  de- 
sire, what  manner  of  world  would  you  make?  Take 
the  six  alternatives  presented  by  the  above  prereq- 
uisites of  moral  character.  If  you  had  your  own 
way,  would  you  make  the  world  free  or  fated?  If 
you  made  man  free  to  do  right  or  wrong,  and  make 
mistakes,  if  he  is  to  learn  by  his  own  failure,  how 
could  you  eliminate  suffering?  Or  again,  without 
some  power  of  accomplishment,  how  could  you  have 
any  real  world  at  all,  unless  there  were  actual  re- 
sults of  your  acts  both  good  and  bad  to  test  and  to 
reveal  character? 

Or,  take  the  third  alternative.  Would  you  make 
the  environment  of  nature  rough  or  smooth,  pain- 
ful or  painless?  If  you  chose  the  easier  path  and 
made  life  a  garden  of  delights,  fitted  for  lotus  eaters 
and  dreamers,  how  would  you  develop  man  apart 
from  the  suffering  and  tragedy  of  life  to  stab  him 
wide  awake  and  arouse  him  from  his  selfishness? 

aCf.  H.  C.  King,  "Fundamental  Questions,"  p.  13,  and  "Theology 
and  the  Social  Consciousness,"  pp.  30-32. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL  67 

"An  imperfect,  developing  world  is  fitted  to  an  im- 
perfect, developing  man."  All  life  above  the  vege- 
table involves  sensation;  and  sensation  necessitates 
both  pleasure  and  pain.  Sensitiveness  and  the  capac- 
ity for  pain  rank  the  creature  in  the  scale  of  being. 
The  higher  the  life  the  larger  the  capacity  for  suf- 
fering, and  the  greater  the  possibility  of  progress. 

Again,  would  you  make  a  reliable  world  of  law 
and  order,  or  one  of  endless  interference  and  spe- 
cial miracles  for  each  individual  to  prevent  suf- 
fering? Such  a  world  would  be  a  chaos  and  not  a 
cosmos,  a  madhouse  rather  than  a  place  for  the  de- 
velopment of  character.  The  very  idea  of  law  ex- 
cludes partiality  and  favoritism.  It  implies  relia- 
bility and  seeming  impersonality.  We  criticize  the 
present  world.  But  imagine  a  condition  where  all 
goodness  was  instantly  rewarded  and  all  evil  in- 
stantly punished!  Imagine  the  charge  of  favoritism 
by  those  who  suffered!  And  what  test  of  faith  or 
development  would  be  possible  for  the  good,  what 
choice  of  virtue  as  its  own  reward?  Wisely  God 
makes  his  sun  to  shine  upon  the  evil  and  the  good, 
and  sends  his  rain  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust. 

Again,  would  you  make  men  interdependent, 
members  one  of  another,  bound  together  in  close 
human  relations,  or  individually  separate  and  iso- 
lated, unable  to  influence  one  another  either  for  good 
or  evil?  Would  you  not  choose  the  responsibility 
and  disciplinary  development  of  real  human  rela- 
tionships just  as  they  are,  with  the  joyous  love  of 
friendship  and  family  life,  entailing  suffering  by 
virtue  of  the  very  intimacy  of  these  relationships, 


68  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

rather  than  the  selfish  isolation  of  an  unrelated 
world  ? 

And  lastly,  would  you  omit  the  struggle  and  hero- 
ism of  life  through  which,  as  Carlyle  shows  "the 
dullest  day-drudge  kindles  into  a  hero"?  If  the 
moral  life  is  a  struggle  between  good  and  evil,  right 
and  wrong,  darkness  and  light,  then  the  physical 
environment,  if  made  by  the  fore-knowledge  of  a 
wise  and  loving  omnipotent  Will  should  contain  this 
same  contrast  for  the  discipline  of  an  evolving  moral 
humanity.  It  must  be  not  a  soft  world  of  ease  to 
lull  us  to  sleep,  but  an  ever  changing  environment 
of  cold  and  heat,  summer  and  winter,  sunshine  and 
shadow,  light  and  darkness,  pleasure  and  pain, 
prosperity  and  adversity. 

Is  not  life  with  all  its  ills  better  than  a  Sahara 
of  dead  monotony,  or  a  garden  of  delights?  Is  it 
not  better  than  a  perfect  mechanism,  or  mechanical 
toy  with  no  possibility  of  moral  good  or  evil?  Is  it 
not  better  than  a  world  of  chance  and  chaos?  As 
a  temporary  discipline  for  the  development  of  per- 
manent character,  could  it  be  better?  When  we 
dream  our  dreams  or  write  our  novels  or  dramas, 
do  we  make  them  smooth  and  soft  as  an  untroubled 
Eden,  or  do  we  create  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  bat- 
tles to  be  fought  and  won,  a  villain  in  the  plot  and 
a  hero  who  wins  against  heavy  odds?  Our  very 
games  are  but  inventions  of  obstacles  to  be  overcome 
in  the  competition  of  struggle,  and  therein  is  their 
fascination. 

If  we  try  to  understand  the  possible  purpose  of 
suffering,  in  facing  the  crisis  in  the  world  today,  we 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL  69 

can  clear  much  of  the  ground  by  recognizing  at  the 
outset  that,  granted  a  loving  God,  personal  immor- 
tality, and  a  moral  meaning  in  life,  all  suffering  is 
temporary  and  much  of  it  is  man-made,  unneces- 
sary and  removable.  God  made  man  free,  but  men 
enslave  one  another.  It  is  not  God  but  man  who 
makes  slavery,  the  city  slum,  war,  and  human  in- 
justice. Man's  greatest  woes  are  made  by  himself, 
and  they  are  removable  by  him.  Much  of  the 
evil  in  the  world  cannot  be  explained  away,  but  it 
can  be  fought  away.  It  cannot  be  removed  by  phi- 
losophy but  only  by  loving  labor  and  sacrifice.  The 
contradiction  between  the  actual  and  the  ideal,  be- 
tween the  natural  and  the  moral  world  can  be  over- 
come only  by  the  free  will  of  man  choosing  the 
path  of  duty.  Our  great  need  is  not  the  explana- 
tion of  evil  but  the  secret  of  moral  mastery  over  it. 
So  far  as  it  is  God's  world  we  may  find  that  it  is 
good,  or  the  means  for  the  making  of  good;  and  so 
far  as  it  is  morally  bad  we  shall  find  later  that  man 
has  made  it  so.  We  can  ask  no  quick  and  cheap 
solution.  If  life  has  infinite  meaning,  it  may  re- 
quire eternity  for  its  full  realization.  A  fact  so 
vast  as  suffering  may  demand  vast  time  fully  to  solve 
the  problem  or  even  see  it  in  perspective.  As  Sien- 
kiewicz  says,  we  are  willing  to  suffer  if  only  we  are 
sure  there  is  something  worth  suffering  for  that  lies 
beyond.1 

1John  Fiske,  speaking  of  the  omnipresent  ethical  trend  of  the 
universe,  says,  "Below  the  surface  din  and  clashing  of  the  struggle 
for  life  we  hear  the  undertone  of  the  deep  ethical  purpose,  as  it 
rolls  in  solemn  music  through  the  ages,  its  volume  swelled  by  every 
victory,  great  or  small,  of  right  over  wrong,  till  in  the  fulness  of 


70  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

The  suffering  that  cannot  be  removed  as  man- 
made  and  unnecessary,  can  be  resolved  into  three 
chief  forms:  disciplinary ,  remedial  or  redemptive. 
Some  suffering  is  disciplinary,  as  a  stimulus  to  man's 
development;  some  is  remedial  as  a  result  of  man's 
own  sin;  while  some  is  redemptive,  and  when  so 
recognized  it  may  become  voluntary  and  vicarious, 
borne  for  the  reclaiming  of  men  and  the  making  of 
a  better  world. 

Some  suffering  is  disciplinary.  Man  has  two 
great  teachers  in  every  realm  of  life,  prosperity  and 
adversity,  pleasure  and  pain,  success  and  failure,  en- 
couragement and  discipline,  reward  and  punishment, 
happiness  and  suffering.  Of  the  two,  which  has  been 
the  better  teacher?  Pain  has  developed  man's  body 
and  its  faculties.  Out  of  conflict,  as  science  has 
shown,  almost  every  attribute  of  form  and  function, 
of  strength  and  courage,  of  beauty  and  nobility  has 
been  evolved.  The  five  senses  have  all  been  thus 
developed.  Pain  has  also  developed  man's  mind. 
It  has  driven  him  to  fresh  discovery  and  invention. 
Suffering  is  educative.  We  say,  "A  burnt  child 
dreads  the  fire."  Suffering  is  a  teacher  for  which 
there  can  be  no  substitute.  It  is  not  optional  or 
elective  but  required  in  the  universal  curriculum  of 
life.  None  can  omit  it  and  take  life's  higher  de- 
grees in  character. 

Most  of  all,  suffering  has  developed  man's  moral 
and  spiritual  nature,  for  it  has  taught  him  sympathy 

time,  in  God's  own  time,  it  shall  burst  forth  in  the  triumphant 
chorus  of  Humanity  purified  and  redeemed."  "Through  Nature  to 
God,"  p.  129. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL  71 

and  tenderness.  It  is  only  the  corals  broken  by  the 
sea  that  form  the  living  rock.  The  bird  rises 
against  a  strong  head-wind,  as  the  opposing  force 
becomes  a  lifting  force.  The  stars  shine  out  by 
night  which  are  unseen  by  day,  and  the  shining  hopes 
of  humanity  break  forth  in  the  darkness  of  despair. 
As  Shakespeare  says,  out  of  his  matchless  knowledge 
of  life,  "Sweet  are  the  uses  of  adversity."  We  must 
admit  that  some  suffering  is  disciplinary. 

Again,  some  suffering  has  been  remedial.  Love's 
purpose  in  discipline  is  not  vindictive  but  educative. 
The  sufferings  of  an  Augustine,  of  a  Francis  of 
Assisi,  of  an  Ignatius  Loyola  were  the  means  of 
reclaiming  them  from  sensuous  lives  to  saintliness. 
History  a,nd  our  own  experience  affirm  that  some 
suffering  is  remedial. 

Highest  of  all,  suffering  may  become  redemptive, 
when  vicariously  borne  for  others.  Socrates  calmly 
drinks  the  hemlock  that  Greece  may  be  free.  Telem- 
achus  springs  into  the  arena  in  protest  against 
the  gladiatorial  games  and  gladly  yields  his  life 
that  this  evil  may  be  ended.  The  mother  nurses 
her  sick  child,  takes  the  disease  and  loses  her  life 
for  her  offspring.  The  hero  dies  for  his  country, 
the  martyr  for  his  cause.  But  each  such  sacrifice 
marks  a  milestone  of  advance. 

Finally  Jesus  appears  as  the  one  hope  of  man- 
kind. His  short  life  failed  to  win  an  adequate  fol- 
lowing, and  his  teaching,  sublime  as  it  was,  was 
often  uncomprehended,  unappreciated  or  misunder- 
stood, for  the  world  was  far  below  his  standard. 
But  what  his  life  failed  to  win,  the  seeming  defeat 


72  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

of  his  death  achieved.  Actually  and  historically  out 
of  this  deepest  evil  in  the  world  has  there  not  come 
the  world's  greatest  good? 

The  Jew  looked  from  the  baffling  problem  of  evil 
and  a  world  of  injustice  to  the  last  judgment  for 
the  vindication  of  God.  There  finally  good  would 
be  rewarded,  sin  would  be  punished,  and  evil  de- 
stroyed. But  as  he  stood  beneath  the  cross  of  Christ, 
he  who  had  vision  saw  a  higher  and  a  better  way, 
not  of  punishment  but  of  the  divine  sharing  of  our 
suffering,  not  evil  destroyed  but  rather  borne  by 
love,  overcome  by  it  and  converted  to  good.  The 
cross  was  God's  way  not  of  annihilating  evil  in 
wrath  but  of  turning  the  other  cheek  to  it  in  long- 
suffering  love.  Christ's  death,  which  seemed  to  cut 
short  and  frustrate  his  life  purpose,  finally  proved 
to  be  the  very  means  of  accomplishing  it.  Thus 
through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs — a 
purpose  of  love,  as  creation's  final  law.  And  love 
facing  a  world  in  the  making,  an  evolving,  disci- 
plinary, and  still  sinful  world,  must  suffer.  There 
is  no  other  way  to  redeem  the  ignorant  and  im- 
penitent. Hate  may  punish,  selfish  indifference  may 
evade,  but  love  must  sacrifice  to  save,  and  by  suf- 
fering win  the  secret  and  the  triumph  of  life. 

It  is  thus  in  the  cross  of  Christ  that  we  see  the 
final  meaning  of  suffering.  It  is  here  that  we  can 
see  the  very  heart  of  God;  for  if  God  was  in  Christ 
then  he  is  always  and  everywhere  what  Jesus  was. 
Then  a  suffering  Christ  means  a  suffering  God,  and 
in  all  our  afflictions  he  is  afflicted  with  us.  As  much 
suffering  as  there  is  in  the  world  is  ever  at  the  heart 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL  73 

of  God,  borne  and  shared  by  him.  All  we  suffer 
the  Father's  heart  feels.  In  nature  we  see  that  God 
could  do  anything  he  would;  in  the  cross  we  see 
that  he  would  do  anything  he  could.  In  nature  we 
see  his  power;  in  the  cross  we  see  his  love.  Here 
is  epitomized  the  whole  meaning  of  suffering,  the 
whole  problem  of  evil.  It  is  here  that  we  learn 
the  philosophy  of  life,  that  God  works  together 
into  good  all  things  for  them  that  love  him.1 

In  the  suffering  of  life,  like  Simon  of  Cyrene,  we 
may  be  constrained  to  bear  a  cross,  seemingly  im- 
posed upon  us  by  blind  fate  or  chance,  apparently 
arbitrary,  meaningless,  which  we  resent  as  a  bitter 
burden.  Or,  we  may  accept  it  as  Jesus  did,  and  all 
life  may  become  transformed  thereby.  We  may, 
with  the  philosopher  of  old,  say  that  "in  suffering 
God  has  pitted  thee  against  a  rough  antagonist  that 
thou  mayest  be  an  Olympic  conqueror."  Thus  Wil- 
liam Prescott,  suddenly  almost  blinded  in  youth, 
"sang  aloud  in  his  darkness  and  solitude  with  un- 
abated cheer."  With  the  help  of  others,  mastering 
many  volumes  in  foreign  languages,  he  completed 
at  last  his  "Conquest  of  Peru,"  and  his  "Conquest 
of  Mexico."  But  his  greatest  work  was  never  writ- 
ten; it  was  the  conquest  of  himself.  Thus  to  the 
Christian  who  sees  the  meaning  of  Christ's  cross  and 
accepts  his  own,  time  is  conquered  and  his  crown 
is  won.  The  dualism  and  conflict  of  good  and  evil 
find  their  solution  and  harmony  in  the  cross  of 
Christ,  where  the  divine  and  human  meet.  Here  a 
God  of  absolute  power  and  goodness  meets  the  sin 

1  Romans  8:28,  R.  V.  margin. 


74  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

and  suffering  of  evolving  man,  and  the  problem  of 
evil  is  solved  in  the  sacrifice  of  love. 

The  meaningless  cross  of  Simon  the  Cyrenian 
may  become  the  voluntary  sacrifice  of  the  follower 
of  Jesus.  All  suffering  may  thus  be  made  vicarious. 
It  may  become  a  triumphant  means  to  greater  good, 
not  only  for  ourselves  but  for  others.  Herein  we 
may  rise  to  life's  highest  glory  and  may  share  even 
in  the  vicarious  redemption  of  God.1  But  this  can 
only  be  by  a  venture  of  faith.  We  see  but  a  small 
arc  of  the  curve  of  human  suffering  in  life's  brief 
span,  but  we  see  enough  to  note  the  trend.  We  rest 
on  rational  ground;  we  see  a  partial  solution;  we 
must  pass  from  this  partial  experience  to  the  only 
complete  truth  which  can  make  life  valid  and  vic- 
torious, the  absolute  goodness  of  God. 

We  must  construe  the  universe  either  from  cer- 
tain facts  of  evil  or  of  good.  "From  partial  proof 
we  rise  to  the  full  conclusion,  that  good  is  the  sun 
and  evil  is  the  cloud,  and  that  the  perfect  and  eter- 
nal sun  is  God."  The  short  span  of  life  offers  no 
absolute  proof  of  anything.  Shall  we  believe  in 
final  evil  or  in  ultimate  good,  or  waver  in  nerve- 
less indecision?  Shall  we  take  the  attitude  of  pes- 
simism or  optimism,  of  hopeless  unbelief  or  of  stak- 
ing our  life  on  the  venture  of  faith?  "Now  faith 
is  the  supposition  or  working  hypothesis  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  testing  out  of  things  not  seen."  It  is 
the  adventure  of  life.  It  is  the  progressive,  prag- 
matic verification  of  experience.     And  this  is  the 

1  Colossians  i  :24. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL  75 

victory  that  overcomes  the  evil  in  the  world,  even 
our  faith. 

Some  men  have  been  baffled  and  beaten  by  what 
has  seemed  to  them  to  be  the  evil  in  the  world.  Yet 
he  who  most  experienced  the  evil  of  life,  whose  per- 
fect good  was  rewarded  with  a  felon's  cross,  never 
wavered  in  his  assurance  of  the  love  of  the  Father 
and  the  ultimate  goodness  of  life.  As  no  other  he 
sees  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  sin  of  the  human 
heart,  yet  never  loses  faith  in  men.  He  suffers  as 
no  other  from  the  ills  of  life  and  the  opposition 
of  sinful  men,  yet  he  staked  his  life  on  the  good- 
ness of  God.  As  he  drank  to  the  bitter  dregs  the 
cup  of  human  suffering,  he  said,  "the  cup  that  my 
Father  hath  given  me  shall  I  not  drink  it?"  He  was 
spared  no  depths  of  shame,  desertion,  betrayal  or 
death;  no  abyss  of  failure  of  shattered  hopes,  of 
uttermost  loss  when  sin  was  allowed  to  work  its 
worst  upon  him.  Yet  he  held  fast  his  faith  in  God 
and  only  asked  forgiveness  for  his  enemies  who  were 
doing  him  to  death.  His  trust  is  unswerving  in  a 
Love  that  penetrates  nature  and  history  and  per- 
vades all  life.  He  does  not  explain  evil  but  over- 
comes it  with  good.  He  does  not  offer  a  philosophy 
of  death  but  an  experience  of  life.  In  him  life  is 
epitomized.  For  us  there  is  a  depth  of  meaning  in 
the  reminder,  "Christ  also  suffered." 

Such  a  faith  strengthens  us  in  facing  the  crisis 
in  the  world  today.  Without  it  in  pessimism,  doubt 
or  agnosticism  we  cannot  find  firm  footing  for  faith 
from  which  to  wage  victorious  warfare  against  the 
giant  evils  that  must  be  overcome,  confident  that 


76  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

the  ultimate  power  of  the  universe  is  behind  us. 
Thus  in  facing  the  crisis  of  his  time  to  Jesus  it  was 
God's  world  and  it  was  good.  He  sees  this  vast 
complex  of  life  as  the  interplay  of  God's  purpose 
with  the  conflicting  and  colliding  wills  of  men.  In 
it  any  circumstance  may  for  the  moment  be  good  or 
ill,  a  pleasure  or  a  pain.  But  granted  a  good  God 
of  infinite  power,  a  developing  moral  personality 
in  man,  and  the  meaning  of  life  revealed,  realized 
and  epitomized  in  Christ,  then  all  contingencies  are 
covered,  all  present  evil  may  be  a  potential  bless- 
ing, and  all  things  work  together  for  ultimate 
good.1 

1  A  fuller  treatment  of  this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  writer's 
"Suffering  and  the  War,"  pp.  19-91 


IV 

IMMORTALITY 

Upon  what  grounds  do  you  believe  in  a  future 
lifef  Is  there  any  such  thing  as  "a  sufe  and  cer- 
tain  hope"   of  immortality? 

For  men  who  were  going  over  the  top  in  the 
World  War,  the  future  life  became  a  vital  ques- 
tion, for  "eternal  topics  had  become  current."  For 
them  it  was  indeed  facing  the  crisis  of  life.  Many 
a  man  asked  himself  the  question  of  old,  "If  a  man 
die  shall  he  live  again?"  This  has  been  answered 
again  and  again  from  the  time  of  Socrates  and 
Plato  and  the  writers  of  the  Upanishads  of  India 
down  to  the  present.  Little  that  is  original  can  be 
added  today,  but  our  faith  gains  firmer  footing 
when  we  find  that  it  is  sustained  by  the  experience 
of  the  centuries  that  have  gone  before  us. 

There  are  many  today  who  believe  in  social  but 
not  in  personal  immortality.  They  hold  that  the 
race  and  civilization  are  the  product  of  our  social 
inheritance.  To  this  inheritance  everyone  in  the 
past  has  contributed.  To  them,  immortality  means 
that  nothing  is  lost  and  that  each  person's  contri- 
bution to  race  progress  is  passed  on  biologically  to 
his  children  or  sociologically  in  the  social  inheri- 
tance. We  are  a  part  of  all  that  we  have  met.  We 
today  are  the  embodiment  of  the  race's  experience 

77 


78  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

and  achievements  and  this  must  satisfy  our  desire  for 
immortality. 

While  fully  accepting  the  fact  of  our  social  in- 
heritance the  writer  believes  also  in  personal  im- 
mortality. He  is  but  summing  up  the  arguments 
of  the  past  when  he  says  that  for  himself  he  be- 
lieves this  for  the  following  reasons: 

I.  The  testimony  of  science  to  a  world  that  is 
rational  and  trustworthy.  All  other  deepest  desires, 
instincts  and  hungers  of  the  human  life  have  the 
possibility  of  being  satisfied.  If  this  hunger  for 
continued  life  were  alone  unfulfilled,  it  would  be 
without  parallel  in  our  experience.  Biologically, 
function  determines  structure  and  our  present  capac- 
ities and  faculties  have  been  developed  by  our  en- 
vironment. As  the  climax  of  a  long  evolutionary 
process,  man  has  sought  to  correspond  to  an  eternal 
spiritual  environment.  If  this  practically  universal 
desire  were  a  mere  subjective  delusion,  it  would  be 
contrary  to  the  whole  experience  of  the  race  in  all 
other  realms  of  life. 

If,  as  science  testifies,  even  matter  and  energy  are 
indestructible,  how  can  the  most  priceless  thing  upon 
this  planet,  human  personality,  be  lightly  destroyed? 
The  life  beyond  is  the  demand  of  our  moral  nature. 
Life's  vast  aspirations  and  capacities,  unfulfilled  at 
death,  drive  us  to  believe  in  God,  in  freedom  and 
immortality.  The  disparity  between  our  potentiali- 
ties and  our  present  possibilities,  between  what  we 
are  and  what  we  hope  to  be,  can  only  be  satisfied  by 
a  future  life.  Annihilation  would  be  an  injustice 
and  an  insult  to  the  race.     "When  therefore  we  as- 


IMMORTALITY  79 

sume,  as  science  always  does  in  the  physical  realm, 
that  this  is  a  reasonable  world,  we  have  a  positive 
and  assuring  argument  for  immortality."  1 

2.  The  testimony  of  religion  to  immortality  is 
far  stronger  than  that  of  science.  Add  to  the  un- 
broken faith  of  nineteen  centuries  of  Christian  ex- 
perience, the  longer  testimony  of  Judaism,  and  the 
three  thousand  years  of  the  religious  experience  of 
India,  whose  spiritual  certainty  has  needed  no  proof 
of  God  or  of  the  future  life.  Recall  the  faith  of 
five  thousand  years  of  the  religious  hope  of  Egypt, 
for  even  today  around  the  ancient  mummies  we  find 
wrapped  those  prayers  from  the  Book  of  the  Dead, 
"Let  me  live,  O  let  me  live !"  Let  us  note  the  belief 
in  the  future  life  in  the  ancient  religions  of  Chaldea, 
Assyria,  and  Babylon;  then  add  the  faith  of  Zoroas- 
ter, the  early  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome,  the 
myths  of  Scandinavia,  the  testimony  of  Caesar  re- 
garding the  early  Britons,  the  traditions  of  the 
North  American  Indians  and  countless  other  tribes. 
Let  us  face  the  fact  that  for  something  like  a  hun- 
dred thousand  years  humanity  has  buried  its  dead 
in  the  faith  of  a  future  life,  and  then  ask  if  this 
hope  has  been  founded  upon  a  fallacy,  if  this  deep- 
est instinct  of  the  human  race  has  been  a  mockery 
and  a  betrayal.  The  testimony  of  the  highest  re- 
ligion to  immortality  is  overwhelming.    Its  basal  as- 

1  See  the  "Assurance  of  Immortality,"  H.  E.  Fosdick,  pp.  113-141, 
to  whom  we  are  indebted  in  this  section.  Professor  James  and 
Bergson  have  endeavored  to  show  that  the  mind  overflows  the 
brain,  that  the  function  of  the  brain  is  not  productive  of  thought 
but  merely  transmissive,  as  in  the  case  of  the  vocal  cords  in  trans- 
mitting sound;  that  the  human  brain  is  but  the  temporary  and 
imperfect  instrument  of  the  mind  that  survives  it  at  death. 


80  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

sumption  that  the  universe  is  beneficent  argues  for 
the  permanence  of  personality.  The  faith  of  re- 
ligion has  always  held, 

"Thou  wilt  not  leave  us  in  the  dust: 
Thou  madest  man,  he  knows  not  why, 
He  thinks  he  was  not  made  to  die; 
And  thou  hast  made  him:  thou  art  just." 

3.  The  testimony  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  race. 
Prophets,  philosophers,  poets,  seers,  the  great  moun- 
tain-peak men  of  human  history  have  held  to  this 
high  hope.  Thus  Socrates  can  say :  "Then  beyond 
question  the  soul  is  immortal  and  imperishable  and 
will  truly  exist  in  another  world."  Plato  holds  "Our 
soul  is  immortal  and  never  at  all  perisheth  ...  of 
necessity  it  always  exists  .  .  .  Like  victors  assem- 
bled together  we  shall  enjoy  a  happy  life."  Let  us 
add  the  testimony  of  the  long  line  of  philosophers 
from  Socrates  and  Plato  to  Kant  and  Hegel.  Take 
the  witness  of  the  great  writers  from  Homer  and 
Virgil,  from  Dante  and  Milton  to  Wordsworth, 
Tennyson  and  Browning.  We  may  add  the  outstand- 
ing statesmen  from  Cicero  to  Cromwell,  from  Wash- 
ington and  Lincoln  to  Bismarck  and  Gladstone  and 
the  vast,  unnumbered  army  of  common  men  who 
with  these  leaders  of  the  race  have  held  this  hope 
as  imperishable.  "The  arbitrament  of  the  great 
spirits  of  the  race  gets  its  authority  for  us  because 
they  but  confirm  the  vision  of  our  own  elevated 
hours." 

4.  The  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  based  his 
life  upon  the  eternal.     He  staked  everything  upon 


IMMORTALITY  81 

an  historic  movement  that  was  to  be  founded  upon 
his  death  and  resurrection  and  whose  fulfillment 
required  his  living  presence.  What  was  it  that  burst 
from  that  empty  tomb  on  the  third  day  with  the 
greatest  manifestation  of  life  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen?  It  was  this  faith  in  the  spiritual  and 
eternal  that  made  Jesus  what  he  was.  Nineteen 
centuries  of  Christian  progress  have  been  based 
upon  it.  In  the  face  of  martyrdom  and  persecution, 
death  and  defeat,  his  followers  have  held  with  in- 
domitable assurance  the  promise,  "Because  I  live  ye 
shall  live  also";  and  "he  that  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  die."  His  was  the  assurance  of  one  who 
already  lived  in  eternity.  And  he  made  it  com- 
municable and  imperishable  to  multitudes  of  men 
not  as  an  evanescent  dream  or  an  empty  philosophi- 
cal speculation  or  wavering  aspiration,  but  sustain- 
ing and  unshakable,  bearing  the  steady  traffic  of 
humanity  from  generation  to  generation,  like  the 
girders  of  a  mighty  bridge  that  spans  a  Niagara  tor- 
rent that  once  seemed  impassable.  In  the  midst  of 
all  human  life  Jesus  forever  affirms,  "I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life."  "Socrates  argued  for  immor- 
tality and  believed  it,  Jesus  never  stopped  to  argue, 
but  taking  it  for  granted  as  an  immediate  and  un- 
questionable intuition,  lived  as  though  it  undoubt- 
edly were  true.  .  .  .  When  one  considers  therefore 
the  character  of  Jesus,  in  which  faith  in  God  was  the 
warp  and  certainty  of  life  eternal  was  the  woof,  he 
is  seeing  the  consummate  verification  of  faith  in 
immortality." 

5.  The  testimony  of  the  character  of  God.    Ulti- 


82  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

mately  our  hope  of  a  life  beyond  is  grounded  in  God 
himself.  If  there  is  an  eternal,  infinite  and  good 
God,  if  there  is  a  living,  loving  Father,  then  the 
future  life  is  assured.  Well  may  John  Fiske  say,  "I 
believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  as  the  supreme 
act  of  faith  in  the  reasonableness  of  God's  work." 
Thus  our  hope  in  the  future  life  is  grounded  in  our 
faith  in  the  moral  integrity  of  God. 

6.  The  testimony  of  experience.  Faith  in  a  future 
life  is  progressively  verified  by  an  expanding  spirit- 
ual experience  in  the  present.  He  that  believeth, 
already  "hath  eternal  life."  The  present  life,  if  it  is 
truly  spiritual,  is  eternal.  Immortality,  rather  than 
being  a  demonstration  of  logic  is  a  spiritual  achieve- 
ment and  a  present  spiritual  experience.  He  who 
knows  this  inward,  moral  miracle  of  a  triumphant 
life  overcoming  temptation,  surmounting  the  limita- 
tions of  time  and  space,  the  bufferings  of  sorrow  and 
separation,  has  already  taken  hold  on  the  spiritual 
and  eternal. 

Death  is  but  a  horizon,  the  limit  of  our  present 
sight.  Goethe  held  that  "death  is  nature's  expert 
device  for  securing  abundance  of  life."  Biologically, 
death  was  the  price  paid  for  a  body,  for  the  speciali- 
zation of  function  and  the  development  of  the  higher 
life.  Mere  physical  existence  could  not  be  finally 
and  fully  satisfying.  It  had  little  significance  until 
death  lent  a  new  meaning  to  life  as  its  great  teacher. 
Time  took  on  new  value.  The  limit  of  man's 
thought  was  driven  out  to  eternity.  Death  showed 
the  true  values  of  life. 

All  fear  is  excluded  from  the  life  that  knows  this 


IMMORTALITY  83 

faith  at  the  full.  Such  an  experience  made  simple 
fishermen  into  world  apostles.  It  made  Saul  of 
Tarsus  into  Paul  the  herald  of  the  Christian  civiliza- 
tion of  Europe.  It  made  the  noble  army  of  martyrs, 
prophets  and  saints  of  the  centuries.  As  one  young 
officer  wrote  from  Flanders,  "Mother,  I  have  seen 
death  and  death  is  indescribable,  but  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Almighty  I  have  found  a  peace 
greater  than  the  terrors  of  death."  One  who  knows 
Jesus  Christ  and  a  living,  loving  God  in  a  satisfying 
and  expanding  spiritual  experience  will  have  no 
doubts  about  the  future  life.  Material  things  may 
pass  away — the  body,  wealth,  the  pride  of  the  world, 
but  a  kingdom  that  cannot  be  shaken  is  revealed  in  a 
spiritual  life  that  transcends  death.  The  caterpillar 
crawls  to  its  chrysalis  but  the  butterfly  soars  into  a 
new  life  which  has  the  power  of  perpetuating  itself. 
So  death  becomes  but  the  portal  to  the  life  beyond. 

This  faith  in  immortality  we  base  upon  the  testi- 
mony of  science,  of  religion,  of  the  great  seers  and 
prophets  of  the  race,  of  Jesus  himself,  upon  the 
testimony  of  our  faith  in  the  character  of  God,  and 
the  witness  of  an  ever  growing  spiritual  experience. 
As  Dr.  Fosdick  says,  "The  reasonableness  of  the 
universe  is  pledged  to  the  immortality  of  man:  the 
beneficence  of  God  is  unthinkable  without  it;  the 
verdict  of  the  spiritual  seers  confirms  it;  and  when  it 
is  put  to  the  verifying  test  of  life  it  builds  the  loftiest 
character." 

If  the  writer  may  be  pardoned  a  very  personal 
word,  this  is  no  question  of  mere  academic  interest 
or  of  creedal  orthodoxy,  but  has  proved  itself  to  him 


84  PACING  THE  CRISIS 

a  sustaining  experience  in  facing  the  crises  of  his 
own  life.  The  following  letter  written  to  a  few 
intimate  friends  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  our  only 
son  during  the  war  is  here  added  in  the  hope  that 
someone  now  in  the  darkness  of  doubt  may  find  this 
glad  and  sustaining  reality,  and  know  that  eternal 
life  is  not  only  a  future  hope  but  a  present  expe- 
rience. 

"March  I,  1917. 
"Dear  Friends: 

"On  Saturday  night,  February  17th,  just  before 
we  reached  him  at  midnight,  our  dear  boy  Arden 
passed  suddenly  and  quietly  away.  He  had  been 
sick  less  than  a  week  with  a  cold  which  developed 
into  a  slight  case  of  pneumonia.  On  Saturday  after- 
noon he  took  a  sudden  turn  for  the  worse  and  in  a 
few  hours,  before  we  could  say  good-by  to  him,  he 
had  entered  into  life.  He  leaves  a  memory  of  four- 
teen years  of  unclouded  sunshine,  rich  with  happy 
associations  and  with  no  regrets. 

"During  the  week  that  he  was  sick  he  had  no  pain 
or  discomfort  and  it  was  not  thought  that  he  was 
seriously  ill.  He  had  talked  with  the  nurse  about 
going  as  a  missionary  to  India.  I  remember  when  I 
took  the  first  walk  with  him  after  we  had  just  moved 
to  Forest  Hills,  as  we  were  returning  to  the  house, 
I  said:  'Well,  Arden,  we  are  almost  home.'  He 
looked  up  with  a  bright  smile  and  said :  'This  isn't 
home  for  me,  father;  I  have  no  home  but  India,  and 
it  will  be  such  a  long  time  before  I  can  finish  school 
and  college  and  go  back  again  as  a  missionary.' 

"He  had  written  to  me  several  times  about  being 
regular  in  his  morning  watch,  through  the  aid  of 
Mr.  Murray's  little  book  for  boys,  "Daily  Reading 
in  the  Gospel  of  Mark."    Upon  looking  at  this  book 


IMMORTALITY  85 

upon  his  desk,  I  found  that  he  had  checked  each 
lesson  as  he  read  it.  Each  day  was  marked  until  I 
came  to  Saturday  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  week,  his 
last  day  of  health.  He  had  read  and  marked  the 
passage  Mark  5  =35-43,  where  Jesus  had  said:  'Fear 
not,  only  believe.  .  .  .  The  child  is  not  dead,  but 
sleepeth.  .  .  .  And  taking  the  child  by  the  hand,  he 
said  ...  I  say  unto  thee,  arise.'  That  was  his  last 
reading.    He  too  has  been  raised  into  new  life. 

"I  found  also  on  his  desk  his  account  book  for  the 
opening  of  the  term,  kept  with  no  thought  of  any- 
one ever  seeing  it.  The  account  showed  that  he 
had  spent  for  necessities  $1.26;  for  himself,  only 
$.41 ;  for  giving,  $10.30  of  which  most  had  gone  to 
the  prisoner-of-war  fund. 

"He  was  a  normal,  healthy,  happy  boy,  fond  of 
sport,  a  good  golfer  and  tennis  player  and  half-back 
on  his  little  football  team.  There  was  no  death 
and  no  parting,  just  a  sudden  and  peaceful  entering 
into  the  life  abundant.  During  a  previous  illness, 
when  his  mother  asked  him,  'Would  you  be  afraid  to 
die,  Arden?'  he  said:  'No,  mother,  why  should  I 
be?'  His  whole  life  was  joyous  and  peaceful,  un- 
broken by  a  single  sorrow,  and  now  for  us  sorrow  is 
swallowed  up  in  joy.  Our  home  has  never  been 
more  happy  than  it  is  today,  nor  our  family  circle 
more  unbroken  and  united.  Earth  is  not  poorer,  but 
heaven  is  richer  and  life  is  fuller. 

"Although  I  found  his  last  algebra  examination 
paper  on  his  table  marked  perfect,  yet  he  found  his 
lessons  very  hard.  He  will  learn  faster  now  in  a 
higher  school.  There  was  nothing  remarkable  or 
precocious  about  our  little  boy.  He  only  lived  and 
loved,  but  he  was  the  most  affectionate  boy  I  have 
ever  known.  He  was  not  afraid  to  kiss  me  even  on 
the  street.  Just  as  he  was  sinking,  before  I  could 
reach  him,  seeing  the  doctor  and  thinking  that  I  had 


86  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

come,  he  threw  his  arms  around  his  neck  and  said: 
'You  love  me,  father,  don't  you?',  words  which  he 
had  said  so  often  during  his  life.  As  I  look  back  on 
the  fourteen  years,  I  cannot  recall  one  really  wrong 
thing  that  he  ever  knowingly  did,  never  a  disobe- 
dience nor  a  lie.  He  was  the  purest  little  soul  that  I 
have  known.  The  one  great  lesson  that  I  pray  I 
may  learn  from  his  life  is  that  great  first  and  last 
lesson  of  love.  Somehow  I  think  he  will  help  us  to 
learn  it.  I  am  only  filled  with  thanksgiving  for  the 
rich  gift  of  this  little  life.  God  never  takes  back  a 
gift  he  gives,  he  has  only  taken  him  to  himself  till 
we  meet  in  the  larger  life  of  perfect  love." 


MIRACLES  AND  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

Have  miracles  ever  really  occurred?  In  the  light 
of  modern  science,  are  they  not  contrary  to  the 
uniform  laws  of  nature?  Are  they  not  precluded 
by  a  rational  view  of  the  modern  world? 

What  is  the  relation  between  matter  and  mind, 
between  the  natural  and  the  supernatural?  Is  it 
conceivable  that  God  would  break  into  the  order 
of  nature  and  interfere  with  natural  processes  by  a 
miraculous  event? 

Is  there  sufficient  evidence  for  the  miracles  of 
Christ? 

In  facing  the  crisis  in  the  world  of  thought  today 
we  must  frankly  acknowledge  that  the  modern  mind 
has  a  natural  antipathy  to  miracle.  The  extension 
of  science,  with  its  universality  of  law,  the  demand 
of  the  rational  mind  for  unity,  the  spirit  of  the  time 
with  its  over-emphasis  upon  the  material  and  me- 
chanical and  its  inadequate  experience  of  the  spirit- 
ual, seem  to  leave  no  room  for  the  miraculous.1 

1Many  approach  the  subject  with  preconceived  prejudice.  This 
is  sometimes  due  to  a  misunderstanding  of  miracle  as  in  the  case 
of  Huxley,  as  "an  isolated  wonder,"  or  of  Hume,  who  says  that 
"a  miracle  may  be  accurately  described  as  a  transgression  of  a 
law  of  nature  by  a  particular  violation  of  the  deity."  It  is  thus 
supposed  to  be  contrary  to  the  "unalterable  experience  of  the  race," 
and  no  evidence  is  sufficient  to  prove  what  he  misconceives  to  be 
a  breaking  of  law.  The  misunderstanding  of  Hume's  definition 
is  well  answered  by  Augustine,  writing  more  than  twelve  centuries 
before  him,  "How  can  that  be  contrary  to  nature  which  takes  place 
by  the  will  of  God,  seeing  that  the  will  of  the  Almighty  Creator  is 
the  true  nature  of  every  created  thing?  So  that  miracle  is  not 
contrary  to  nature,  but  only  to  what  is  knoixn  of  nature." 

87 


88  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

Recognizing  the  antipathy  to  miracles  at  the  pres- 
ent time  let  us  remember  that  we  do  not  have  to 
begin  the  Christian  life  with  belief  in  them.  There 
is  a  heart  of  Christian  experience,  a  central  "core  of 
reality,"  an  inner  certainty  with  which  we  may  begin 
that  is  not  at  all  dependent  upon  our  opinion  con- 
cerning miracles.  Let  us  "fix  firm  the  center  first, 
then  draw  the  circle  round."  If  we  may  conceive 
miracle  broadly  as  the  free  manifestation  of  the 
spiritual  within  the  natural  order,  in  ways  not  ac- 
counted for  by  the  mechanism  of  that  order,  then  a 
miracle  is  "not  a  disorderly  occurrence  but  the  mani- 
festation of  a  higher  order."  Beginning  with  the 
central  core  of  Christian  experience,  are  there  not 
five  widening  circles  of  reality  which  we  may  in  turn 
accept  as  we  find  sufficient  evidence  for  them,  all  of 
which  lead  us  on  from  nature  to  the  supernatural  ? 

There  is  first  of  all  the  miracle  of  God.  We 
must  face  the  alternatives  of  a  spiritual  or  a  mechan- 
ical universe.  Once  we  are  sure  of  God,  we  can 
confine  him  to  no  mechanistic  or  material  world. 
The  whole  of  life  is  seen  to  be  in  its  widest  sense 
spiritual  and  miraculous.  Do  the  facts  of  life  show 
us  a  God  intelligent,  benevolent  or  "cabined,  cribbed, 
confined,  bound  in"?  Is  the  heart  of  life  a  machine, 
or  "our  Father  in  Heaven"? 

Next  we  come  to  the  great  miracle  of  history, 
Jesus  himself.  His  character,  his  teaching,  his  whole 
life  in  communion  with  God,  his  sinless  conscious- 
ness, his  overwhelming  effect  upon  humanity  loom 
large  before  us.    He  himself  is  the  one  great  moral 


MIRACLES  AND  THE  SUPERNATURAL     89 

miracle.      No   isolated   act,   not  what  he   did,   but 
what  he  was  and  is — this  is  the  heart  of  miracle. 

Third,  we  come  to  the  miracle  of  the  resurrection. 
Picture  the  disciples  despairing  and  scattered,  all 
hope  dead  within  them,  but  suddenly  there  bursts 
forth  the  greatest  manifestation  of  life  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen — life  overwhelming  and  indomi- 
table, life  spiritual,  moral,  intellectual,  and  creative. 
Belief  in  the  resurrection  was  universal  in  the  early 
Church.1  It  was  a  fundamental  fact  four  times 
foretold  by  Jesus  himself,  and  repeated  in  all  the 
records  of  his  life.  From  this  hour  there  is  a  new 
creative  force  in  the  world.  Something  happened 
at  that  time,  for  Christianity  had  died  with  Christ. 
He  was  crucified  in  shame,  buried  in  despair,  yet 
suddenly  an  overpowering  inward  experience  pos- 
sessed his  disciples.  There  must  have  been  some 
objective  reality  corresponding  to  this  new  and  over- 
whelming subjective  experience.  Here  was  the 
greatest  infusion  of  moral  and  spiritual  life  that 
history  records  upon  our  planet  strangely  connected 

*Dr.  Sanday  says,  "The  truth  is  that  the  historian  who  tries  to 
construct  a  reasoned  picture  of  the  Life  of  Christ  finds  that  he 
cannot  dispense  with  the  miracles.  He  is  confronted  with  the  fact 
that  no  sooner  had  the  life  of  Jesus  ended  in  apparent  failure  and 
shame  than  the  great  body  of  Christians — not  an  individual  here 
and  there,  but  the  great  mass  of  the  Church — passed  over  at  once 
to  the  fixed  belief  that  he  was  God.  .  .  .  There  must  have  been 
something  about  the  Life,  a  broad  and  substantial  element  in  it, 
which  they  could  recognize  as  supernatural  and  divine — not  that 
we  can  recognize,  but  which  they  could  recognize  with  the  ideas  of 
the  time.  Eliminate  miracles  from  the  career  of  Jesus,  and  the 
belief  of  Christians,  from  the  first  moment  that  we  have  undoubted 
contemporary  evidence  of  it  (say  A.D.  50)  becomes  an  insoluble 
enigma." — Hastings'  "Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  Vol.  II,  p.  627. 
See  "Reconstruction  in  Theology,"  by  President  H.  C.  King,  pp. 
66-7. 


90  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

with  a  definite  event  that  begins  on  the  third  day 
after  his  crucifixion.  What  was  this  power,  this  un- 
answerable and  indubitable  experience  that  sends 
men  triumphant  into  life  and  joyfully  to  death,  that 
faces  three  centuries  of  persecution  by  fire  and  sword 
of  the  Roman  Empire  and  its  legions,  that  survives 
after  nineteen  centuries  of  ancient,  medieval  and 
modern  civilization,  and  that  may  be  reexperienced 
and  reverified  today?  Was  it  not  the  risen  Christ 
possessing  this  new  community  by  an  extension  of 
the  incarnation  of  the  life  of  God  in  the  souls  of 
men? 

But  if  Christ  lives  there  is  a  fourth  miracle  of 
which  we  may  now  make  sure,  that  is,  the  inward 
moral  miracle  of  the  spiritual  life  experienced  by  an 
ever-widening  circle  of  men  in  all  times  and  climes 
and  races.  Professor  James'  "Varieties  of  Religious 
Experience"  is  only  one  infinitesimal  volume  of 
an  experience  that  if  recorded  would  extend  beyond 
the  bounds  of  all  libraries.  Christianity  and  science 
have  this  in  common.  Both  rest  upon  a  fact,  both 
stand  upon  experience.  Religion  affirms  an  experi- 
ence which  science  cannot  deny  or  disprove.  We  can 
have  within  ourselves  the  last  and  final  proof  of  the 
resurrection  which  rests,  not  on  appearances  to  men 
of  a  bygone  age,  but  upon  an  abiding  vision  for 
men  of  every  age.  The  writer  could  add  his  own 
humble  testimony  to  an  abiding  experience  recorded 
in  a  previous  chapter  which  he  simply  cannot  under- 
stand or  explain  upon  any  basis  of  a  mechanistic 
order,  but  only  upon  that  of  a  universe  of  natural 
and  spiritual  law  miraculous  through  and  through 


MIRACLES  AND  THE  SUPERNATURAL     91 

with  divine  purpose  and  activity.  Thus  with  Ter- 
tullian  in  North  Africa,  more  than  a  millennium  ago, 
men  of  five  continents  can  summon  their  own  souls 
in  testimony  as  we  say  with  him,  "I  summon  a  new 
witness,  one  more  widely  known  than  any  book.  .  .  . 
Stand  forth  in  the  midst,  O  Soul,  .  .  .  whether 
thou  be  divine  and  eternal  as  most  think  and  there- 
fore the  less  likely  to  deceive.  .  .  .  Stand  forth  and 
give  thy  witness.  ...  I  demand  of  thee  such 
truths  as  thou  bringest  with  thyself  into  man  which 
thou  hast  learned  either  from  thyself  or  the  Author 
of  thy  being." 

As  our  own  experience  widens,  we  may  pass  to  a 
fifth  circle  of  miracle,  in  Jesus*  acts  of  healing. 
Read  through  for  an  hour  that  first  fresh  Gospel  of 
Mark  and  note  how  these  works  of  Jesus  are  not 
vague  wonders,  mythological,  fantastic  exhibitions 
of  power,  but  always  manifestations  of  a  loving  pur- 
pose with  moral  meaning.  Here  he  is  proclaiming 
the  good  news  of  a  restored  humanity  made  whole 
in  spirit,  mind  and  body.  His  works  simply  illus- 
trate, validate  and  incarnate  his  message.  Once 
granted  that  Jesus  is  the  moral  miracle  of  history, 
why  should  his  works  seem  incredible?  Why  should 
not  the  spirit  influence  the  body?  Why  should  not 
goodness  overcome  evil ;  and  mind,  pure,  triumphant 
and  God-possessed,  dominate  sinful,  enfeebled  and 
victimized  humanity?  Matter  has  dominated  our 
spirits  too  long.  We  have  not  yet  possessed  our 
own  souls  nor  our  spiritual  kingdom.1 

1  Do  not  the  recent  discoveries  of  modern  science  in  the  psychical 
realm  tend  to  confirm  Jesus'  power  of  healing?     If  one  reads  the 


92  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

It  is  when  we  take  miracles  in  their  full  setting  of 
the  life  of  Christ  that  we  may  begin  to  see  their 
spiritual  significance.  Let  us  remember  that  it  was 
not  a  miraculous  period.  John  the  Baptist  had 
wrought  no  miracles,  nor  the  great  prophets  before 
Christ.  It  seems  impossible  to  reconstruct  the  New 
Testament  if  we  leave  them  out.  They  are  inter- 
woven in  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  record.  If  we 
take  up  the  Gospels,  we  find  they  contain  sober  state- 
ments by  matter-of-fact  men.  They  are  unequaled 
in  the  freshness  of  their  impression.  The  vivid 
narratives  bear  the  marks  of  eye-witnesses.  As  Pro- 
fessor Seeley,  in  his  "Ecce  Homo,"  says,  "The  fact 
that  Christ  appeared  as  a  worker  of  miracles  is  the 
best  attested  fact  in  his  whole  biography."  Repeat- 
edly, habitually,  in  vivid  and  varying  detail,  his 
works  of  healing  are  recorded,  but  Jesus  always  sub- 
ordinates them  to  spiritual  purpose  and  moral  con- 
trol. 

Moreover,  the  miraculous  in  Jesus  is  himself,  as 
when  Goethe  says,  "I  bow  down  before  him  as  the 
divine  manifestation  of  the  highest  principle  of 
morality,"  or,  as  Tennyson  says,  "What  the  sun  is 
to  that  sunflower,  Jesus  Christ  is  to  my  soul."    From 

chapter  by  Capt.  Hadfield  on  "The  Psychology  of  Power,"  in 
Streeter's  "The  Spirit,"  and  sees  these  principles  applied  to  shell- 
shocked  patients  in  our  own  day,  he  gains  fresh  clews  to  these 
undeniable  miracles  of  Jesus.  Prof.  A.  G.  Hogg  says,  "Man's 
readiness  grows;  God's  readiness  is  always  complete.  This  ex- 
plains why  God's  highest  responses  to  the  appeal  of  faith  appear 
supernatural.  They  have  been  eternally  natural  to  God,  but  they 
seem  miraculous  or  astonishing  to  us  because  our  dull  faith  has 
hitherto  excluded  them  from  our  experience.  God's  eternal  readi- 
ness breaks  in  upon  us  suddenly  and  in  unprecedented  manner, 
whenever  our  diminishing  unreadiness  reaches  the  vanishing 
^oint." 


MIRACLES  AND  THE  SUPERNATURAL      93 

such  a  person  as  we  have  found  him  to  be  we  would 
expect  an  unusual  knowledge  of  spiritual  laws,  an 
unusual  power  of  mind  over  matter,  of  the  spirit 
over  the  material. 

Thus  we  may  advance  in  five  widening  circles  of 
experience — the  miracle  of  God  as  the  only  alterna- 
tive to  the  dead  mechanism  of  an  unexplained  ma- 
terialistic universe ;  the  mighty  miracle  of  Jesus  him- 
self;  the  fact  of  his  resurrection;  the  inward  moral 
miracle  repeated  in  every  disciple  who  learns  the 
spirit  of  a  little  child ;  and  the  reasonable  and  loving 
works  of  Jesus  as  he  makes  men  whole.  If  we 
accept  the  impression  that  Jesus  made  upon  the  men 
of  his  day,  the  weight  of  evidence  of  long  centuries 
which  could  not  be  built  upon  myth,  and  the  testi- 
mony of  our  own  souls,  then  miracle  with  moral 
meaning  will  be  in  harmony  with  our  own  growing 
spiritual  experience. 

We  must  remember  that  the  so-called  "laws  of 
nature"  are  only  our  subjective  generalizations  in 
which  we  try  to  sum  up  our  limited  knowledge  of 
things,  or  the  sum  total  of  our  systematized  experi- 
ence.1 Thus  an  unusual  event,  whose  cause  is  to  us 
unknown,  might  be  contrary  to  our  ordinary  experi- 
ence, but  a  manifestation  of  some  higher  law.  This 
is  constantly  happening  with  each  epoch-making  dis- 
covery of  science  which  enlarges  the  boundaries  of 

*The  writer  is  especially  indebted  in  this  chapter  to  Dr.  A.  C. 
Headlam  in  his  "Miracles  of  the  New  Testament,"  to  J.  A.  Thom- 
son in  "The  System  of  Animate  Nature,"  to  Frederick  Piatt  on 
"Miracles,"  "Basic  Ideas  in  Religion,"  by  Dr.  R.  W.  Micou,  "Re- 
construction in  Theology,"  by  H.  C.  King,  "Direct  and  Funda- 
mental Proofs  of  the  Christian  Religion,"  by  G.  W.  Knox,  "God 
and  the  Struggle  for  Existence,"  by  B.  H.  Streeter,  etc. 


94  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

our  knowledge.  Instead  of  Hume's  "unalterable 
experience  of  the  race,"  if  one  reads  "The  Wonder- 
ful Century,"  by  Alfred  Russell  Wallace,  he  will  see 
how  many  of  the  great  achievements  of  science  have 
opened  up  a  new  world  and  accomplished  things 
which  to  previous  experience  seemed  miraculous. 
Comte  had  hardly  made  his  assertion  that  we  would 
never  know  the  chemical  composition  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  before  the  discovery  of  the  spectroscope  re- 
vealed the  elements  in  the  heart  of  the  sun  and  stars 
more  perfectly  than  we  know  the  hidden  portions 
of  our  own  earth.  *• 

If  natural  law  is  the  simple  action  of  things  with 
no  human  voluntary  agency  behind  them,  we  might 
define  miracle  not  as  a  violation  of  law,  but  as  "the 
ultimate  nature  of  things  asserting  themselves,  a 
revelation  of  the  latent  possibilities  of  things;  of 
what  they  can  become  by  divine  activity  within 
them."  Thus  a  miracle  might  be  a  supernatural, 
fresh  activity  of  the  spirit  which  is  its  source.  It 
might  be  due  to  the  knowledge  of  a  higher  physical 
or  spiritual  law  on  the  part  of  some  spiritual  per- 
sonality.1 

1  In  the  eighteenth  century  Bishop  Butler,  followed  by  Paley, 
believed  miracles  to  be  the  "direct  and  fundamental  proofs  of  the 
Christian  religion."  At  that  time  miracles  were  supposed  to  be 
the  evidence  that  authenticated  Christ.  Today  it  is  Christ  that 
must  authenticate  miracles.  Instead  of  their  being  direct  proofs, 
we  must  turn  to  the  self-evidencing,  intrinsic  truth  and  worth  of 
Christianity  and  its  appeal  to  our  own  experience.  Only  as  it 
directly  appeals  to  us  as  ethics  and  religion,  as  it  satisfies  our 
spiritual  need  and  becomes  incarnated  in  our  character  and 
embodied  in  our  social  activities  is  it  validated.  The  eighteenth 
century  was  concerned  with  the  vehicle  of  the  message,  while  we 
are  occupied  with  its  substance.  They  demanded  signs  and  mira- 
cles; we  ask  life  and  experience. 


MIRACLES  AND  THE  SUPERNATURAL      95 

Miracles  may  be  a  part  of  a  vast  and  ordered 
spiritual  world  which  inter-penetrates  the  natural 
order.  Were  our  experience  wide  enough  to  gener- 
alize upon  these  seemingly  unusual  events  we  might 
see  that  they  form  a  part  of  a  larger  order  continu- 
ous with  the  natural.  The  whole  sweep  of  evolu- 
tion, the  inner  heart  and  secret  of  nature  itself 
would  seem  to  point  to  a  larger  spiritual  order  con- 
tinuous with  nature,  of  which  man  is  a  part.  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge  shows  that  there  are  two  conceptions 
of  the  universe,  one  spiritual  and  the  other  material, 
and  we  must  take  our  choice.1 

If  we  suppose  then  that  God,  like  man,  may  cause 
changing  combinations  of  unchanging  forces,  and 
that  nature  is  not  a  closed  order  or  a  dead  machine 
but  pliant  to  spirit  and  adapted  to  its  use,  we  thus 
leave  room  for  prayer,  for  providence,  for  miracle, 
for  a  whole  spiritual  order. 

If  science  is  slow  to  recognize  single  miracles,  it 
is  for  the  reason  that  the  whole  of  nature  has  become 
miraculous.  Thus  we  may  find  that  the  supernatural 
would  then  be  not  a  contradiction  to  the  natural  but 
an  enlargement  of  it.  Nature  would  then  be  law  in 
process,  and  the  supernatural  the  end  for  which 
law  exists.    The  supernatural  would  be  nature  seen 

1"The  one,  that  of  a  self-contained  and  self-sufficient  universe 
uninfluenced  by  any  life  or  mind  except  such  as  is  connected  with 
a  visible  and  tangible  human  body;  the  other  conception  that  of  a 
universe  lying  open  to  all  manner  of  spiritual  influences  perme- 
ated through  and  through  with  a  divine  Spirit  .  .  .  with  intelli- 
gence and  love  behind  law  .  .  .  groping  into  another  super-sensu- 
ous order  of  existence  where  there  are  laws  hitherto  unimagined 
by  science,  but  laws  as  real  and  as  mighty  as  those  by  which  the 
material  universe  is  governed."  Hibbert  Journal,  Oct.  1912,  p.  16, 
Huxley  says:  "Denying  the  possibilities  of  miracles  seems  to  be 
quite  as  unjustifiable  as  speculative  atheism." 


96  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

on  its  spiritual  side,  while  nature  would  be  the  super- 
natural made  available  and  useful  for  men.  Neither 
nature  nor  the  supernatural  would  be  outside  the 
sphere  of  law,  but  only  two  sides  of  one  shield  of 
reality.  Such  a  spiritual  view  of  life  will  help  us  in 
facing  the  crisis  today. 


VI 

THE  BIBLE 

1.  In  facing  the  crisis  in  our  religious  life  today 
what  is  the  significance  of  the  Bible,  and  what  is  its 
purpose? 

2.  Was  it  immediately  dictated  by  God  as  some 
perfect,  inerrant,  infallible,  finished  book  let  down 
from  heaven,  as  it  were,  or  is  it  a  record  of  a  pro- 
gressive revelation  for  the  education  of  an  advanc- 
ing race? 

3.  How  may  we  realize  the  practical  purpose 
of  the  Bible?  How  may  we  share  the  deep  spiritual 
life  of  the  Psalmists  and  of  the  early  disciples  of 
Jesus?  Why  should  we  study  the  Bible  today,  and 
how  may  we  receive  the  greatest  help  from  it? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  the  Bible?  The  Bible  is  a 
collected  library  of  sixty-six  books,  written  during 
long  periods  of  time  covering  more  than  a  thousand 
years  of  Jewish  history.  Its  various  writings  are 
grouped  in  two  Testaments  or  Covenants,  the  Old 
based  upon  the  Jewish  Law  of  Sinai ;  the  New  upon 
the  gospel  or  good  news  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Bible 
contains  a  vast  literature  of  prose  and  poetry,  his- 
tory and  law,  prophecy  and  wisdom,  early  cos- 
mogony and  embryonic  science,  folklore  and  geog- 
raphy, psalms  and  proverbs. 

The  New  Testament  embraces  biography  and  let- 
ters, history  and  apocalypse.    But  the  primary  object 

of  the  Bible  is  none  of  these.    Its  unique  purpose  is 

97 


98  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

not  as  literature,  though  it  is  the  grandest  single 
volume  of  literature  in  any  language.  Its  aim  is  not 
to  teach  grammar  or  geography,  history  or  science, 
law  or  poetry.  It  is  not  intended  as  a  storehouse  of 
authoritative  proof-texts  or  pious  mottoes,  not  as 
a  shibboleth,  or  a  fetish  or  mystic  book  to  be  read 
for  merit.  It  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  to  be  wor- 
shiped, nor  a  mechanical,  external  authority  to  be 
blindly  obeyed.  It  has  one  clear  purpose.  It  is  a 
means  of  life;  a  means,  not  an  end.  It  shows  how 
we  may  realize  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  men. 
It  tells  us  of  a  new  type  of  life  lived  on  earth  by 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  how  he  shared  it  with  his  dis- 
ciples, and  how  we  also  may  possess  it.  We  find  here 
a  new  beginning,  a  new  epoch,  a  new  humanity. 
Growing  out  of  the  short  life  and  tragic  death  of 
Jesus,  there  had  been  an  overwhelming  experience 
of  this  new  life.  Men  came  together  to  ask  what 
had  happened.  Peter  stood  up  to  explain  it,  and  the 
four  Gospels  and  the  New  Testament  are  but  the 
expansion  of  the  explanation  then  begun.  The  Bible 
records  the  gradual  education  of  the  Jewish  people 
through  inspired  prophets,  culminating  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  fulfillment.  It  is  thus  the  record  of 
an  experience  and  the  vehicle  for  transmitting  it  to 
succeeding  generations. 

The  Bible  is  then  of  priceless  value  for  two  rea- 
sons: it  is  the  outstanding  moral  and  religious  book 
of  antiquity,  containing  the  record  of  the  world's 
greatest  religious  race,  and  it  is  our  one  source  of 
knowledge  of  the  historic  Jesus.  Second,  it  is  the 
one  great  means  of  communicating  this  experience 


THE  BIBLE  99 

so  that  it  may  be  reverified  and  relived  by  men  in 
each  succeeding  age.  Ours  is  not  a  book  religion  like 
Islam.    It  is  a  way  of  life,  and  centers  in  a  person. 

The  Bible  is  the  most  human  book  in  the  world, 
yet  it  is  the  most  divine.  Its  authority  is  in  its  self- 
evidencing  power,  the  appeal  of  its  inherent  truth, 
its  ability  to  transform  life,  and  to  reproduce  the 
experience  which  it  records.  It  has  found  men  be- 
cause, as  Emerson  says,  "it  came  out  of  profounder 
depths  than  any  other  book."  Thus  Heine's  state- 
ment is  typical  of  multitudes  of  men.  "I  owe  my 
enlightenment  quite  simply  to  the  reading  of  a  book 
.  .  .  the  book,  the  Bible.  .  .  .  He  who  has  lost  his 
God  may  find  him  again  in  this  volume,  and  he  who 
has  never  known  him  will  there  be  met  bv  the  breath 
of  the  divine  Word."  * 

Is  the  Bible  a  finished  or  a  progressive  revelation 
of  God;  is  it  inerrant  and  infallible? 

Let  us  recognize  that  God's  object  seems  to  have 
been  not  to  get  an  infallible  book,  but  to  educate 
men.  The  Bible  nowhere  claims  to  be  infallible. 
Never  was  man  promised  a  church,  or  book,  or  vis- 
ible guide  that  was  to  be  inerrant,  but  God's  own 
Spirit  was  to  guide  him.  Conceivably,  there  are  two 
possible  ways  that  a  revelation  of  God  might  be 
given.  It  might  be,  as  it  were,  let  down  from 
heaven,  in  finished,  perfected  form  as  an  encyclo- 

1  Coleridge  says,  "In  every  generation  and  wherever  the  light  of 
revelation  has  shown,  men  of  all  ranks^  conditions  and  states  of 
mind  have  found  in  this  volume  a  correspondent  for  every  move- 
ment toward  the  better  felt  in  their  own  heart.  The  needy  soul 
has  found  supply;  the  feeble  a  help;  the  sorrowful  a  comfort." 


100  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

pedic  revelation  of  truth — religious,  scientific,  his- 
torical, philosophical,  omniscient.  Such  a  revelation 
would  be  meaningless  to  men  in  the  childhood  of  the 
race.  What  would  they  understand  of  science  in 
terms  of  energy,  electrons  or  ether?  Such  a  perfect 
revelation  would  be  equally  incomprehensible  to 
them  religiously. 

The  other  alternative  would  be  a  gradual,  pro- 
gressive revelation  as  they  were  able  to  receive  it, 
corresponding  to  the  slow  education  of  the  race. 
Which  of  these  two  methods  God  used  is  not  a 
question  of  theory  but  of  fact.  Let  us  examine  and 
see  whether  in  its  history,  science,  morality  and 
theology  the  Bible  is  infallible,  and  whether  it  is 
equally  inspired  throughout.  To  be  infallible  it 
would  have  to  be  free  from  all  error  and  disagree- 
ments; accurate  in  every  statement,  recording  the 
exact  words  dictated  by  God  or  spoken  by  Jesus 
Christ;  and  communicating  the  perfect  thought  and 
will  of  God.  Does  the  Bible  do  this,  or  does  it 
disclose  a  developing  conception  of  truth,  the  slow 
dawning  of  light  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness  and 
ignorance  and  sin  of  man? 

In  the  imprecatory  Psalms,  the  Psalmist  prays  for 
vengeance  upon  his  enemies.  "When  he  shall  be 
judged,  let  him  come  forth  guilty;  and  let  his  prayer 
be  turned  into  sin.  Let  his  children  be  fatherless, 
and  his  wife  a  widow.  Let  his  children  be  contin- 
ually vagabonds,  and  beg.  .  .  .  Let  there  be  none 
to  extend  mercy  unto  him;  neither  let  there  be  any  to 
have  pity  on  his  fatherless  children.  .  .  .  Let  the 
iniquity   of  his   fathers   be   remembered   with   the 


THE  BIBLE  101 

Lord;  and  let  not  the  sin  of  his  mother  be  blotted 
out."  x  But  Jesus  prays,  "Father,  forgive  them,  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do."  Which  is  the  higher 
of  these  conceptions?  Are  they  equally  inspired? 
If  so,  why  is  the  Bible  of  the  most  devout  much  used 
and  worn  thin  on  these  passages  of  Jesus,  and  the 
pages  white  and  almost  untouched  in  the  impreca- 
tory Psalms  and  parts  of  the  Old  Testament?  Did 
the  enemy  in  the  war  ever  go  beyond  the  cruelty  of 
some  of  the  imprecatory  Psalms?  Are  they  equally 
inspired  with  the  twenty-third  Psalm,  and  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount?  Are  they  morally  infallible; 
if  so,  why  do  we  not  follow  them  today? 

Do  we  discern  no  moral  progress  in  the  Bible? 
Abraham  and  Solomon  had  their  many  wives  and 
concubines;  but  if  the  Apostle  Paul  had  done  so, 
could  he  be  a  spiritual  authority  for  us?  David 
commits  adultery  and  is  responsible  for  the  murder 
of  Uriah.  Would  Peter  have  done  so?  Jehu's 
massacre  of  the  descendants  of  Ahab  is  approved  by 
the  writer  of  the  Kings  as  uzeal  for  the  Lord."  But 
later  it  is  condemned  by  Hosea,  as  a  sin  for  which 
the  Lord'will  destroy  the  house  of  Israel.2  Is  there 
contradiction  here  or  progress? 

We  must  remember  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  touch- 
stone and  test  of  the  whole.  By  his  standard  all 
parts  of  the  Bible  must  be  judged.  Jesus  himself 
criticizes  the  Old  Testament  and  is  our  authority 
for  judging  its  moral  teaching  in  the  light  of  his  own. 
Thus,  to  Moses  were  ascribed  certain  laws  concern- 

1  Psalm  109:9-15. 

"II  Kings  10:30;  Hosea  1:4. 


102  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

ing  divorce;  but  Jesus  says,  they  are  "on  account  of 
the  hardness  of  your  hearts,"  that  is,  the  low  moral 
standard  of  the  time. 

Many  claim  that  the  Bible  is  inerrant  and  perfect 
in  its  science,  its  history,  and  its  very  words.  A 
controversialist  in  India,  who  believed  in  infallible, 
verbal  inspiration,  came  to  the  writer  and  asked, 
"Some  people  say  there  are  more  than  two  thousand 
mistakes  in  the  Bible;  is  that  true?"  We  asked 
him,  "What  was  the  inscription  written  on  the  cross 
of  Christ?"  He  replied,  "  This  is  the  King  of  the 
Jews.'  "  We  said,  "A  paraphrase  will  not  do;  give 
us  the  very  words."  "Well,"  he  answered,  "look  in 
the  Bible."  We  replied,  "Supposing  we  do,  will  we 
find  there  the  exact  words  that  were  on  the  cross, 
infallibly  recorded?"  "Yes,"  he  said,  "absolutely 
the  exact  words."  "Well,"  we  said,  "to  which  Gos- 
pel shall  we  turn,  since  it  is  given  in  four  different 
ways  in  the  four  Gospels,  and  no  two  of  them 
exactly  agree?  Which  one  shall  we  take  as  the  one 
that  is  infallible  and  verbally  inspired?  If  no  two 
of  them  precisely  agree,  is  this  a  mistake  or  not?" 
He  thought  for  a  moment  and  replied,  "No,  it  is 
not  a  mistake,  they  agree  in  substance ;  they  give  the 
essential  truth;  the  words  do  not  matter."  Was  he 
not  right?  "The  letter  killeth;  the  Spirit  giveth 
life."  It  is  the  substance  that  matters.  If  you  can- 
not find  a  single  parable  or  miracle  or  a  single  say- 
ing of  Christ  of  three  lines  in  extent,  that  is  recorded 
in  exactly  the  same  words  in  the  four  Gospels,  in  any 
three  Gospels,  or  in  any  two  Gospels;  if  no  two 
exactly  agree,  which  account  shall  we  take  as  verbally 


THE  BIBLE  103 

inspired  and  infallible?  It  is  when  we  come  to  the 
Bible  to  fulfill  its  great  divine  purpose  that  we  find 
it  a  means  of  life,  the  record  of  God's  revelation  to 
man  that  leads  us  to  the  very  heart  of  God. 

There  will  be  found  over  a  hundred  thousand 
variations  in  the  readings  of  the  oldest  and  best 
manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament.  Nowhere  does 
the  Bible  make  the  claim  of  infallibility  nor  was  this 
claim  ever  made  for  it  until  the  fourth  century. 
Luther  and  many  other  equally  devout  and  intelli- 
gent men  never  held  this  view  of  inerrancy.  Some 
may  say,  "The  New  Testament  at  least  is  infal- 
lible." But  to  take  one  of  many  instances,  turn  to 
Matthew  27  19,  where  the  writer  says,  "Then  the 
word  spoken  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah  was  fulfilled." 
We  find,  however,  that  the  writer,  quoting  from 
memory,  does  not  give  the  passage  accurately,  as  is 
the  case  of  many  of  the  quotations  from  the  Old 
Testament.1  In  fact,  the  passage  is  not  found  at  all 
in  Jeremiah,  but  in  Zechariah  11:13.  Some  would 
say,  "You  must  believe  all,  or  reject  all."  Would 
you  reject  the  priceless  teaching  of  Jesus  because 
Matthew  or  some  other  writer,  quoting  from  mem- 
ory, gives  the  wrong  name  of  a  book? 

Take  the  analogy  of  our  human  parents.  As 
children,  we  believed  them  to  be  infallible;  we  be- 
lieved in  Santa  Claus  and  fairies,  but  we  were  later 
disillusioned.  We  do  not  need  infallible  but  loving 
human  parents;  nor  an  inerrant,  inhuman,  mechani- 

1  See  Charles  R.  Brown,  "The  Main  Points,"  p.  77.  "Criticism 
has  demolished  alike  the  Catholic  assumption  of  an  infallible 
Church  and  the  Protestant  assumption  of  an  infallible  Book." 
Gwatkin,  "The  Knowledge  of  God,"  Vol.  II,  p.  289. 


104  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

cal  book  let  down  from  heaven,  but  a  means  of  life. 

We  must  also  distinguish  between  the  eternal 
truth  contained  in  the  Bible  and  the  tradition  about 
it  which  men  have  held  from  time  to  time.  For 
illustration,  the  writer  stood  some  years  ago  on  the 
battlefield  of  Waterloo.  At  a  certain  strategic  point 
on  the  right  of  Wellington's  line  there  was  a  stone 
wall  held  throughout  the  day  of  the  battle.  There 
was  a  hedge  fence  in  advance  of  this  stone  wall  that 
might  have  been  defended  during  the  early  morning 
hours  of  the  battle ;  but  upon  inquiry  we  found  that 
Wellington  never  attempted  to  hold  this  doubtful 
line.  He  could  not  there  have  withstood  the  full 
force  of  the  enemy.  His  forces  might  have  been 
unable  to  regain  and  hold  even  the  stone  wall  in  the 
haste  and  rout  of  retreat.  Now,  the  stone  wall 
represents  the  truth  of  the  Bible,  and  the  hedge  fence 
the  tradition  men  have  held  about  it,  or  various 
theories  of'its  origin,  authorship,  inspiration,  infalli- 
bility, or  inerrancy.  For  ourselves,  we  must  hold  to 
the  stone  wall  of  truth,  and  not  endeavor  to  defend 
the  lines  of  tradition  or  theory  that  men  have  held 
about  the  Bible. 

We  must  not  forget  that  almost  every  evil  has  in 
turn  been  justified  by  proof  texts  from  the  Bible, 
whether  of  witch-craft,  slavery,  the  inquisition,  or 
other  evils  and  superstitions.  And  it  is  equally  true 
that  almost  every  radical  advance  in  science  has  been 
opposed  by  those  who  held  traditional  theories  about 
the  Bible.  Perhaps  this  was  natural  and  almost  in- 
evitable, but  had  the  Church  stood  from  first  to  last 
for  truth,  for  scientific  observation,  and  sound  his- 


THE  BIBLE  105 

torical  criticism,  for  social  justice  and  human  right, 
it  would  not  find  itself  in  the  situation  it  does  today 
throughout  the  world. 

It  may  be  said,  that  even  if  some  of  these  things 
are  undeniably  true  it  is  unwise  to  teach  them.  But 
we  are  facing  the  crisis  in  the  world  today.  Students 
of  modern  science  and  philosophy,  the  men  returned 
from  the  war,  even  the  man  in  the  street  who  has 
caught  the  spirit  of  the  times  can  no  longer  receive 
upon  mere  outward  authority  views  which  cannot 
bear  the  test  of  thorough  investigation.  Many  have 
already  drifted  away  from  organized  religion.  If 
men  are  not  ready  to  be  told  the  truth  today,  when 
will  they  be  ?  What  kind  of  a  faith  is  it  that  cannot 
bear  the  light  of  the  full  glare  of  day,  or  cannot  face 
the  indisputable  facts  of  science?  We  believe  that 
just  because  we  have  failed  to  teach  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth  as  far  as  we  know  it,  and  nothing  but 
the  truth,  that  incalculable  damage  has  already  been 
done,  and  that  many  a  man  has  lost  his  faith  alto- 
gether and  abandoned  in  retreat  the  stone  wall  of 
truth,  who  would  today  be  a  true  Christian  if  a 
rational  view  of  the  Bible  had  been  presented  to 
him  in  full  harmony  with  modern  science.  Surely 
we  need  not  be  afraid  nor  try  to  steady  the  ark  of 
truth.  Are  we  to  repeat  the  mistakes  of  the  last 
three  hundred  years  and  continue  this  opposition  to 
the  results  of  modern  science? 

The  Bible  remains  the  unique  possession  of  the 
human  race.  It  is  a  divinely  inspired,  human  record 
of  the  progressive  revelation  of  God's  perfect  truth 
to  imperfect,   developing  men.      Its  inspiration  is 


106  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

vital,  not  mechanical.  It  is  the  most  honest,  ingen- 
uous, frank,  self-evidencing  book  in  the  world.  It 
establishes  its  own  authority.  It  is  a  very  fountain 
of  living  waters,  a  means  of  life,  a  channel  of  the 
most  priceless  experience  in  human  history. 

How  may  we  realize  the  practical  purpose  of  the 
Bible,  and  why  should  we  study  itf 

The  three  great  spiritual  needs  of  the  individual 
would  seem  to  be,  to  come  into  vital  fellowship  with 
God,  to  enter  into  helpful  relation  to  his  fellowmen 
in  service,  and  to  form  a  Christian  character  in  over- 
coming temptation.  These  three  needs  the  Bible 
supplies  as  no  other  book  or  all  others  combined. 
How  does  it  do  this? 

We  need  to  read  the  Bible  for  the  same  reason 
that  we  need  physical  food.  M.  Bergson,  in  his 
"Creative  Evolution,"  shows  that  we  need  food  for 
the  body  for  three  reasons,  to  repair  waste,  to  fur- 
nish heat  for  the  system,  and  to  supply  energy  or 
explosive  power  for  work.  For  the  same  three 
corresponding  spiritual  reasons,  we  need  to  study 
the  Scriptures.  Herbert  Spencer  says,  "Whatever 
amount  of  power  an  organism  expends  is  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  power  that  was  taken  into  it  from  with- 
out." We  cannot  give  out  what  we  do  not  receive. 
Life  is  a  correspondence  of  receiving  and  giving, 
inflow  and  overflow.  Prayer,  and  the  study  of  the 
Bible,  are  perhaps  the  two  chief  means  of  inflow  to 
the  spiritual  life. 

When  a  King  of  England  is  crowned,  he  is  pre- 
sented with  the  Bible  in  the  coronation  service  with 


THE  BIBLE  107 

these  words,  "We  present  you  with  this  Book,  the 
greatest  thing  this  world  affords.  There  is  truth; 
this  is  wisdom:  these  are  the  living  oracles  of  God." 
We  too  are  presented  with  this  priceless  possession 
of  the  race.  Shall  we  eagerly  study  it  or  neglect  it? 
Look  down  the  centuries  at  men  of  spiritual  power. 
As  they  have  been  men  of  prayer,  so  have  they  been 
men  who  lived  upon  the  truth  of  God's  Word — men 
like  Bunyan,  Luther,  and  Wesley.  Hear  Samuel 
Rutherford  in  Scotland  say,  "A  river  of  God's  un- 
seen joys  has  flowed  from  bank  to  brae  over  my 
soul.  I  urge  upon  you  communion  with  Christ,  a 
growing  communion.  .  .  .  Therefore  dig  deep,  and 
sweat,  and  labor,  and  take  pains  for  him.  Set  by  as 
much  time  in  the  day  for  him  as  you  can.  He  will 
be  won  with  labor."  Listen  to  McCheyne,  'T  ought 
to  spend  the  first  hours  of  every  day  in  communion 
with  God.  It  is  my  noblest  and  most  fruitful  em- 
ployment, and  is  not  to  be  thrust  into  any  corner." 
Hear  George  Miiller,  writing  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
two,  answering  a  question  as  to  the  secret  of  his 
spiritual  power,  "I  have  been  a  lover  of  God's 
Word."  > 

1Woodrow  Wilson  says,  "I  am  sorry  for  the  men  who  do  not 
read  the  Bible  every  day.  I  wonder  why  they  deprive  themselves 
of  the  strength  and  pleasure.  I  should  be  afraid  to  go  forward  if  I 
did  not  believe  there  lay  at  the  foundation  of  all  our  schooling  and 
all  our  thought  this  incomparable  and  unimpeachable  Word  of 
God."  Dr.  R.  F.  Horton  says,  "No  difficulties  in  the  Bible  are 
worth  considering  compared  with  the  difficulties  of  those  who  cease 
to  read  it.  Out  of  their  lives  has  gone  not  only  a  great  intellectual 
discipline,  a  touchstone  of  literary  taste,  a  handbook  of  ethics  and 
conduct,  but  the  master  instrument  for  holding  the  soul  in  com- 
munion with  God.  Read  the  Book.  Consider  that  here  you  have 
the  greatest  book  in  the  world,  the  fountain  head  of  modern  litera- 
ture;   remember    the    past,    the    souls    that    have    been    fed    and 


108  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

Jesus  himself  "lived  and  had  his  being  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures."  If  you  look  through  the  Gospel 
of  Matthew,  you  will  find  that  he  quotes  fifty-eight 
times  from  seventeen  different  books  in  the  Old 
Testament;  some  fifteen  times  from  Isaiah,  eleven 
from  the  Psalms,  ten  from  Deuteronomy,  six  from 
Jeremiah,  etc.  These  were  the  springs  from  which 
he  drank.  Tischendorf  tells  of  his  discovery  of  the 
great  manuscript  in  the  monastery  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Sinai,  when  his  hand  shook  with  excitement 
at  the  priceless  possession,  worth  millions,  the  value 
of  which  was  unrecognized  by  the  simple  monks.  Is 
it  not  true  that  the  supreme  value  of  this  Book  is 
often  equally  unrecognized  by  the  modern  student 
today?  In  a  life  filled  with  feverish  activity,  how 
little  time  we  have  for  God.  We  say  we  have  no 
time;  no  time  for  what?  No  time  for  God,  no  time 
for  power,  no  time  for  character?  Are  there  not 
twelve  hours  in  the  day,  and  are  we  not  here  in 
touch  with  one  of  the  sources  and  secrets  of  the  very 
Life  that  changed  human  history? 

How  then  shall  we  study  this  book?  If  we  are 
beginners  supposing  we  start  with  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  Matthew  5,  6,  and  7.  Let  us  study  it 
paragraph  by  paragraph.  Let  us  ask  at  each  verse 
or  section,  first,  what  does  it  mean,  and  second, 
what  does  it  teach  me  today  about  life?  First  we 
must  get  its  truth  into  the  outer  court  of  the  mind, 
but  second,  into  the  inner  court  of  the  heart,  that  it 
may  change  our  lives.     Let  us  study  it  regularly, 

strengthened  on  this  spiritual  food,  the  deeds  that  have  been 
done,  the  lives  that  have  been  led  by  its  inspiration."  "My  Be- 
lief," p.  132. 


THE  BIBLE  109 

rationally,  systematically,  practically,  prayerfully. 
Let  us  study  it  at  least  as  thoroughly  as  we  would 
any  other  book.  This  is  the  surest  method  in  facing 
the  crisis  in  the  present  time  of  transition  in  the 
world  of  thought. 

Can  the  student  not  set  apart  at  least  a  few  min- 
utes for  this  purpose  at  such  time  as  he  may  find  best 
and  most  profitable?  For  most  of  us  that  will  prob- 
ably be  the  first  and  the  freshest  time  in  the  early 
morning.  Just  as  the  soldier  puts  on  his  armor 
before  the  battle  rather  than  after,  as  the  musician 
tunes  his  instrument  before  the  concert  begins  rather 
than  after  it  is  over,  so  we  need  strength  and  har- 
mony for  each  new  day  before  it  is  lived.  Let  us 
also  heed  the  word  of  Hudson  Taylor,  who  had  led 
a  thousand  missionaries  into  the  heart  of  China, 
when  he  said  to  the  students  of  America,  "Make  the 
devotional  study  of  the  Word  of  God  the  first  thing 
in  your  life,  absolutely." 


VII 

EVOLUTION 

In  facing  the  crisis  today  can  we  reconcile  the 
apparently  conflicting  claims  of  religion  and  mod- 
ern science?  Is  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  in  har- 
mony with  the  theory  of  evolution? 

There  can  be  no  conflict  between  true  religion  and 
true  science,  if  they  are  parts  of  one  common  reality. 
The  only  clash  can  be  between  an  unbelieving  science 
and  an  unscientific  belief.  There  may  be  a  conflict 
between  our  imperfect  developing  conceptions  of 
science  and  theology,  but  true  science  and  true 
religion  as  such  can  have  no  conflict.  For  illustra- 
tion, here  are  two  railway  trains  approaching  at  top 
speed,  apparently  doomed  to  collision  and  the  total 
wreck  of  both.  But  they  pass  by  unharmed,  for  they 
are  on  parallel  tracks.  This  is  true  of  the  parallel 
planes  of  science  and  religion.  Supposing  we  under- 
stand evolution  as  simply  the  gradual  method  of  de- 
velopment observable  in  all  spheres  of  nature  and 
human  experience  and  that  it  is  only  the  way  of 
God's  working.  How  then  would  it  impair  our  faith 
to  believe  that  God  normally  works  by  evolution 
rather  than  by  revolution,  that  he  works  rationally, 
slowly  and  surely,  rather  than  suddenly  and  arbi- 
trarily? Instead  of  losing  would  not  religion  im- 
mensely gain  from  this  conception? 

110 


EVOLUTION  111 

Evolution  implies  descent  with  modification,  that 
all  life  has  been  evolved  from  certain  primordial 
germs.1  In  other  words,  it  is  simply  the  develop- 
ment from  simple  to  complex  forms  of  life  by  adap- 
tation. Such  a  theory  of  development  is  in  no  way 
necessarily  materialistic,  automatic  or  self-sufficient. 
If  any  adequate  explanation  is  to  be  given  of  this 
wonderful  plan  of  development  observable  through- 
out the  universe  it  requires  God  not  only  for  its 
origin  but  also  in  the  whole  process  from  start  to 
finish. 

Let  us  beware  at  the  outset  of  prejudice.  Let  us 
frankly  admit  that  almost  every  radical  advance  in 
science  involving  a  change  from  traditional  theologi- 
cal views  has  been  opposed  in  the  supposed  interests 
of  religion.2  Augustine,  the  great  writer  of  the 
fourth  century,  held  that  if  we  assert  that  men  live 
on  the  other  side  of  the  earth  we  would  give  the  lie 
to  the  Holy  Spirit  and  to  the  scriptures  which  give 
no  such  view  of  a  round  world.     Columbus  was 

1  LeConte  in  his  "Evolution  and  Its  Relation  to  Religious 
Thought"  describes  it  as  "continuous  progressive  change  according 
to  certain  laws  and  bv  means  of  resident  forces."  Schiller  in  his 
"Riddles  of  the  Sphynx"  defines  evolution  as  "the  universal  law 
of  the  becoming  of  things ;  a  progressive  development  of  the  indi- 
vidual in  combination  with  other  individuals  in  which  the  individ- 
ual passes  from  the  atom  to  the  moral  person." 

3  Buckle  in  his  "History  of  Civilization,"  writes:  "Every  new  truth 
which  has  ever  been  propounded  has,  for  a  time,  caused  mischief; 
it  has  produced  discomfort  and  often  unhappiness,  sometimes  by 
disturbing  social  and  religious  arrangements,  and  sometimes 
merely  by  the  disruption  of  old  and  cherished  associations  of 
thoughts.  ...  At  length  the  truth  causes  nothing  but  good.  .  .  . 
Men  are  made  uneasy;  they  flinch;  they  cannot  bear  the  sudden 
light  .  .  .  old  interests  and  old  beliefs  have  been  destroyed  before 
new  ones  have  been  created.  .  .  .  These  symptoms  .  .  .  have  pre- 
ceded all  great  changes  through  which  the  world  has  passed."  In 
facing  the  crisis  of  the  present  time,  is  not  the  same  process  being 
repeated? 


112  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

vigorously  opposed  by  the  church  leaders  of  his  day 
who  refuted  his  theories  from  scripture,  which  im- 
plied a  flat  earth  and  the  four  corners  thereof. 
When  Magellan's  fleet  circumnavigated  the  globe 
the  discovery  that  the  world  was  round  was  fiercely 
opposed  in  the  interests  of  orthodoxy.  Galileo  was 
forced  by  the  church  to  recant  upon  his  knees  and 
renounce  his  dangerous  doctrine,  but  the  earth 
moved  just  the  same  and  a  mistaken  medieval  theol- 
ogy could  not  change  it.  When  Copernicus  discov- 
ered in  1543  that  the  sun  was  the  center  of  our 
system  it  was  in  contradiction  to  the  whole  cosmic 
theological  system  of  the  day,  and  Calvin  and  Luther 
vigorously  opposed  his  discovery.1  John  Wesley  in 
the  eighteenth  century  in  the  controversy  over  the 
burning  of  witches  maintained  that  if  witchcraft 
were  not  true  the  whole  Bible  fell  to  the  ground. 
The  publication  of  the  "Origin  of  the  Species"  by 
Darwin  in  1859  brought  forth  a  new  array  of  de- 
fenders of  the  faith  to  attack  the  discoveries  of 
modern  science,  just  as  fresh  discoveries  had  been 
opposed  for  fifteen  centuries  before  that  time  in  the 
face  of  every  radical  advance  of  thought.  President 
Andrew  D.  White,  in  his  "Warfare  of  Science  and 
Religion,"  shows  that  'interference  with  science  in 
the  supposed  interests  of  religion  has  resulted  in  the 

1  Luther  said:  "People  gave  ear  to  an  upstart  astrologer  who 
strove  to  show  that  the  earth  revolves,  not  the  heavens  or  the 
firmament,  the  sun  and  the  moon.  Whoever  wishes  to  appear 
clever  must  devise  some  new  system,  which  of  all  systems  is,  of 
course,  the  very  best.  This  fool  wishes  to  reverse  the  entire  science 
of  astronomy,  but  sacred  Scripture  tells  us  that  Joshua  commanded 
the  sun  to  stand  still,  and  not  the  earth."  How  similar  was  the 
great  Luther's  well  meaning  but  futile  attack  to  those  who  oppose 
evolution  today  on  scriptural  grounds. 


EVOLUTION  113 

direst  evils,  and  untrammeled  investigation  in  the 
highest  good  of  religion  and  science.  .  .  .  God's 
truth  must  agree  whether  discovered  in  the  soul  or 
within  the  world.  .  .  .  They  must  at  last  come  to- 
gether, for  truth  is  one." 

There  are  a  number  of  earnest  Christians  today 
who  look  askance  at  the  doctrine  of  evolution  as 
calculated  to  overthrow  faith.  We  are  forced,  how- 
ever, in  facing  the  crisis  in  the  world  of  thought 
today,  to  take  our  choice  between  the  modern  view 
of  the  world  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  ancient  or 
medieval  view  on  the  other.  Many  Christians  still 
retain  the  old  world  view  in  whole  or  in  part.  Ac- 
cording to  this  earlier  view  the  earth  was  the  center 
of  a  comfortable  little  universe.  The  sun  revolved 
around  the  earth  and  the  "firmament"  was  a  solid 
dome  from  which  the  stars  were  hung.  The  earth 
was  flat  with  its  "four  corners";  heaven  was  just 
above  and  hell  below  us.  The  elect  had  the  direc- 
tion of  a  verbally  inspired  inerrant  seat  of  authority 
and  for  outsiders  there  was  the  "proof"  of  Natural 
Religion  in  the  argument  from  design,  based  on  the 
scientific  doctrine  of  the  day  of  the  fixity  of  species, 
as  special  creations  in  a  world  made  in  six  days,  and 
ruled  by  absolute  divine  decrees. 

But  this  old  world  view  was  shattered  for  students 
of  modern  science.1  First  came  astronomy  which 
showed  our  little  earth  as  one  of  the  least  of  the 
planets,  revolving  around  our  sun  as  one  of  the 
smallest  of  the  stars  in  a  boundless  universe.  Then 
geology  and  the  kindred  sciences  pushed  back  the 

1  See  Bishop  Gore's  "Belief  in  God,"  pp.  6-28. 


114  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

six  days  of  creation  to  a  record  of  more  than  six 
hundred  million  years  of  evolving  life  upon  our 
planet.  Biology  then  traced  the  development  of 
man  as  part  of  a  vast  evolution  of  life  from  simple 
to  complex  forms.  Next  Historical  Criticism  sub- 
jected the  Bible  to  the  same  scientific  scrutiny  as  all 
other  books  and  showed  its  progressive  historical 
development,  comparing  with  it  similar  stories  of 
creation,  the  flood,  etc.,  found  among  the  nations 
surrounding  the  Hebrews.  Then  the  study  of  Com- 
parative Religions  discovered  vast  ranges  of  parallel 
truth  in  other  faiths  of  mankind  and  the  question 
was  asked  if  this  truth  was  all  "from  the  devil." 
Next  came  the  rise  of  democracy  and  "the  revolt  of 
the  modern  conscience"  against  supposedly  divine 
decrees  condemning  to  eternal  punishment  multi- 
tudes of  men  even  before  their  birth,  together  with 
the  great  bulk  of  mankind  who  had  never  had  the 
opportunity  of  hearing  the  Christian  message. 
Finally  the  World  War  broke  down  many  of  the  old 
traditions  and  beliefs  and  forced  men  who  dared  to 
do  so  to  rethink  their  position. 

A  Christian  today  must  take  his  choice  between 
the  medieval  and  the  modern  view  of  the  world. 
Fortunately  his  personal  religious  experience  can  be 
real  and  deep  whether  his  view  of  science  be  medi- 
eval or  modern,  but  it  is  indeed  a  privilege  to  have  a 
joyous  vital  Christian  experience  coupled  with  a 
rational  faith  in  harmony  with  science,  for  one  who 
must  live  his  life  in  the  full  current  of  the  modern 
world.     A  recent  pronouncement  of  Dr.   Dowie's 


EVOLUTION  115 

followers  *  indicates  how  one  may  retain  the  medi- 
eval view  today  and  suggests  the  probability  that 
many  of  us  have  some  of  the  grave  clothes  of  the 
old  view  still  clinging  to  us  in  the  present.  We 
should  have  very  real  sympathy  for  those  whose 
view  of  truth  seems  threatened  if  it  is  changed  in  a 
single  detail.  It  is  not  easy  to  make  the  transition 
from  the  old  to  the  modern  view,  and  there  may  be 
a  dark  valley  of  doubt  between,  but  the  high  sunlit 
tableland  of  truth  lies  beyond  and  the  solid  Rock  of 
Ages  will  be  beneath  your  feet. 

The  writer  recalls  many  during  the  last  year  who 
were  in  the  throes  of  the  dark  transition.  Upon 
whichever  side  of  the  great  divide  we  may  be,  let  us 
at  least  endeavor  to  understand  one  another  and 
speak  the  truth  in  a  love  that  is  "never  glad  when 
others  go  wrong  .  .  .  always  eager  to  believe  the 
best,  always  hopeful,  always  patient."  Let  us  not 
call  one  another  "atheists,"  "agnostics"  or  "infidels" 
because  we  differ  in  some  point,  however  important 
it  may  be. 

If  I  may  speak  for  myself,  thirty-three  years  ago 

1  Wilbur  Voliva,  overseer  of  Zion  and  head  of  the  Christian 
Apostolic  Church,  has  completed  the  fixing  of  the  dimensions  of 
the  flat  world,  the  existence  of  which  is  now  taught  in  the  Zion 
schools.  The  sky  is  a  vast  dome  of  solid  material  from  which 
the  sun,  moon  and  stars  are  hung  like  chandeliers  from  a  ceiling. 
The  edges  of  the  dome,  he  explained  to  the  congregation  at  Shiloh 
Tabernacle,  rest  on  the  wall  which  surrounds  the  flat  world.  "That 
is  the  plain  teaching  of  the  whole  word  of  God,"  Mr.  Voliva  said. 
"The  firmament  above  our  heads  is  a  solid  structure  and  the 
stars  are  points  of  light,  that  is  all.  They  are  not  worlds,  they 
are  not  suns.  So-called  science  is  a  lot  of  silly  rot,  and  so  is  so- 
called  medical  science  and  all  the  rest  of  their  so-called  sciences. 
The  sun  is  a  small  body  about  forty  miles  in  diameter  and  located 
only  3,000  miles  from  the  earth,"  that  is,  about  as  far  as  New 
York  is  from  San  Francisco. — Zion,  Illinois,  Feb.  1,  1922. 


116  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

I  began  to  make  this  transition  to  the  modern  view- 
point. All  the  deepest  spiritual  experiences  of  my 
life  have  come  to  me  in  connection  with  this  view. 
It  is  not  some  new  departure.  It  has  been  the 
foundation  for  all  my  missionary  life  and  evangelistic 
work.  For  myself  I  have  found  the  gladness  of  a 
rational  and  joyous  faith,  a  loving  God  and  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  a  divine  and  risen  Saviour, 
an  inspired  Word  of  God,  a  spiritual  experience 
that  has  quenched  the  thirst  of  my  soul  these  many 
years,  and  a  message  of  evangelism  that  is  really 
saving  men  in  the  Orient  and  Occident  alike. 

While  scientists  differ  as  to  the  theory  which  will 
best  account  for  the  facts,  and  may  reject  in  part  the 
particular  views  of  Darwin,  Herbert  Spencer  and 
others,  evolution  as  a  principle  is  now  accepted  in 
practically  all  departments  of  knowledge.  We  see 
the  process  of  development  actually  going  on  today 
all  about  us  and  new  forms  both  of  plants  and 
animals  are  being  produced  before  our  eyes;  by 
Burbank  and  others  in  plants  and  flowers,  and  by 
the  followers  of  DeVries  in  the  animal  kingdom.1 

To  anyone  who  will  examine  the  case  for  evolu- 
tion impartially,  it  seems  convincing  and  unanswer- 
able. If  we  take  the  converging  lines  of  evidence 
from  comparative  anatomy,  from  embryology, 
where  the  unborn  infant  in  its  earlier  stages  recapitu- 
lates lower  forms,  the  evidence  from  paleontology  in 

1  As  Prof.  James  Harvey  Robinson  points  out,  "The  most  stal- 
wart and  eloquent  opponent  of  evolution  was,  a  few  decades  ago, 
a  single  cell  less  than  one  hundredth  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  .  .  . 
Each  of  us  has  actually  recapitulated  the  history  of  life  in  a 
marvelous  series  of  personal  metamorphoses." 


EVOLUTION  117 

the  age-long  record  of  the  rocks,  the  evidence  from 
geographical  distribution,  and  finally  from  experi- 
mental investigation,  the  chain  of  evidence  seems 
convincing. 

Take  for  instance  the  development  of  the  horse. 
In  the  museum  of  Natural  History  in  New  York,  at 
Yale,  and  elsewhere,  you  will  note  that  it  begins  with 
a  little  animal  eleven  inches  in  height,  smaller  than 
a  sheep,  with  five  long  toes,  fitted  for  running  in  the 
deep  marsh  grass.  As  the  dry  land  and  short  grass 
emerge  the  horse  becomes  adapted  to  the  changing 
environment.  One  by  one  the  toes  disappear  until 
we  have  left  the  fleet  hoof  as  the  nail  of  one  toe  and 
the  large  swift  horse  of  today.  Again,  if  you  take 
the  embryo  of  the  shark,  the  chicken  and  the  man, 
at  an  early  stage  of  development  long  before  birth, 
all  have  gills  for  breathing  under  water,  a  long  tail 
and  the  system  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  pecul- 
iar to  the  fish.  Finally  these  disappear  in  the 
human  embryo  and  the  new  and  higher  life  evolves 
adapted  to  the  present  environment  of  each.  The 
one  hundred  or  more  vestigial  structures  like  the 
human  appendix  which  were  once  functional,  per- 
forming a  needed  service  in  a  lower  form  of  life  but 
which  are  now  left  as  rudimentary,  give  further 
evidence. 

The  gains  to  all  departments  of  life  made  by  this 
great  discovery  are  almost  incalculable.  It  has 
brought  increased  emphasis  on  the  immanence  of 
God.  God  is  not  some  far-off  deistic  maker  of  a 
self-running  machine,  nor  is  he  merely  appearing 
and  reappearing  in  certain  gaps  of  special  manifes- 


118  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

tations,  but  immanent  in  the  whole  process  from 
beginning  to  end.  Evolution  has  also  given  us  a 
larger  view  of  the  method,  plan  and  aim  of  God.  It 
has  revealed  a  greater  universe  and  a  greater  God 
than  our  fathers  ever  conceived.  Every  atom  of 
matter  is  a  miraculous  microcosm  of  whirling  elec- 
trons. From  the  infinitesimal  to  the  infinite  all  is 
part  of  one  marvelous  plan.  Moreover,  it  gives  us 
a  wider  unity  and  sweep  to  all  life  and  a  deeper 
harmony  between  the  natural  and  the  spiritual. 

"A  sacred  kinship  I  would  not  forego 
Binds  me  to  all  that  breathes." 

This  progressive  view  also  leads  us  to  a  larger 
spiritual  hope  and  greater  patience  as  we  see  that 
all  progress  is  gradual,  not  cataclysmic  by  sudden, 
arbitrary  jerks  and  starts.  The  present  roots  in  the 
past,  and  the  future  in  the  present  as  we  share  "the 
power  of  an  endless  life." 

How  then  can  we  reconcile  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  with  modern  science  and  evolution?  We 
simply  do  not  try  to  reconcile  them.  A  moment's 
thought  will  convince  us  that  there  were,  as  we  have 
seen,  two  possible  methods  open  if  there  was  to  be  a 
divine  revelation  to  man.  One  would  be  a  perfect, 
final,  infallible  compendium  of  universal  knowledge 
let  down  from  heaven  in  a  finished  and  perfect  book. 
But  supposing  such  a  book  were  written  in  terms  of 
modern  science,  about  electrons,  relativity,  radium, 
the  nebular  hypothesis,  etc.  Of  what  possible  moral 
and  spiritual  use  would  it  have  been  to  men  during 
the  last  five  thousand  years  or  in  any  other  age?    It 


EVOLUTION  119 

would  have  been  incomprehensible  and  impractical. 
Even  if  it  were  written  in  terms  of  modern  twentieth 
century  science  it  would  be  out  of  date  in  a  few 
years. 

If  on  the  other  hand  man  must  learn  by  gradual 
progress  in  education  and  discipline,  the  only  other 
alternative  to  the  above  would  seem  to  be  that  of  a 
gradual,  progressive  revelation  on  the  principle  "I 
have  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear 
them  now."  If  we  turn  to  the  first  chapter  of  the 
Bible  we  read:  "In  the  beginning — God"!  More 
than  thirty  times  in  this  chapter  God  is  referred  to 
as  the  author  of  all.  Here  is  the  divinely  inspired 
spiritual  truth  that  it  is  God's  world  and  that  in  it 
he  has  a  purpose  of  good.  Then  we  read  on  through 
that  opening  poem  containing  a  beautiful  picture  of 
a  world  described  as  created  in  six  days  each  with 
its  evening  and  morning.  As  we  contrast  this  state- 
ment with  those  of  certain  other  sacred  books  de- 
scribing the  world  as  hatched  out  of  a  golden  egg, 
in  seven  round  continents  and  seven  concentric  seas 
of  milk,  melted  butter,  etc.,  we  see  the  simple  gran- 
deur of  the  Biblical  narrative.  But  in  no  sense  is  it 
scientific  and  by  no  conceivable  stretch  of  the  imagi- 
nation can  it  truly  be  made  so.  The  Bible  is  a  mar- 
velous book  of  poetry,  prose,  history,  geography, 
cosmogony  and  a  hundred  other  things,  but  for  none 
of  these  things  was  it  written.  Its  one  central  pur- 
pose was  that  believing,  we  might  have  life;  to  so 
reveal  God  to  man  in  a  revelation  culminating  in 
Jesus  Christ,  that  we  might  have  life  in  him.  To 
force  it  to  do  duty  as  science,  history,  geography, 


120  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

astronomy,  geology,  etc.,  is  to  repeat  the  catastrophe 
of  those  who  have  opposed  science  by  scripture  from 
the  days  of  Augustine  to  the  present. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  is  it  not  perfectly  plain  to  the 
unprejudiced  reader  that  evolution,  or  a  gradual, 
progressive  revelation,  is  the  very  method  of  scrip- 
ture itself?  Note  the  progress  from  the  early  local 
conception  of  a  God  who  walks  in  the  garden  in  the 
cool  of  the  day  and  who  shows  his  "hinder  parts"  to 
Moses,  who  dwells  in  a  sacred  place  called  the  ark, 
or  in  this  mountain  or  that  holy  place,  to  the  uni- 
versal conception  of  Jesus  that  God  is  to  be  wor- 
shiped neither  in  this  mountain  nor  yet  in  Jerusalem, 
"when  the  real  worshipers  will  worship  the  Father 
in  spirit  and  in  reality."  Is  there  not  manifest  evo- 
lution or  development  of  thought  in  this  higher 
conception  of  God?  Is  there  no  development  from 
foods  clean  and  unclean  which  might  not  be  eaten, 
to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  that  nothing  from  without 
defiles  the  man?  Is  there  no  progress  from  the 
atrocities  of  slaying  their  prisoners  the  Amalekites 
and  the  awful  unforgiveness  of  the  imprecatory 
psalms  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  that  God  is  love,  and 
that  we  are  to  love  our  enemies  and  do  them  good? 
Is  there  no  moral  progress  from  the  primitive  polyg- 
amy, slavery,  divorce  and  crude  immorality  prac- 
ticed in  the  early  scriptures  to  the  standard  of  Jesus, 
"Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect  even  as  your  heavenly 
Father  is  perfect?  l 

Let  us  therefore  gladly  receive  the  revelation  of 
God's  truth  equally  in  his  word  and  in  his  world,  in 

xSee  Matt  5:31-33  and  43-48. 


EVOLUTION  121 

religion  and  in  science.  We  shall  find  one  vast, 
mighty,  majestic  process  culminating  in  the  cross  and 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  and  in  the  Kingdom  of 
God  as  a  new  social  order.  Thus  through  all  the 
ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs,  and  love  is  found, 
creation's  final  law.  Thus  like  the  author  of  the 
Hebrews,  "receiving  a  kingdom  that  cannot  be 
shaken,"  1  we  accept  God's  truth  through  the  grad- 
ual, developing,  evolutionary  revelation  of  himself 
in  religion  and  science  alike. 

1  Hebrews   12:27,  28. 


VIII 

DIFFICULTIES  CONCERNING  PRAYER 

There  seem  to  be  three  main  difficulties  with 
regard  to  prayer — the  scientific,  the  philosophic,  and 
the  practical.  These  are  expressed  in  the  following 
questions : 

1.  Has  answered  prayer  any  reality  in  a  world 
governed  by  universal  law?  Could  God,  or  would 
God,  interfere  with  the  fixed  laws  of  nature  in 
order  to  answer  prayer? 

2.  7/  God  is  good,  will  he  not  give  what  is  best 
for  us  without  our  asking?  Can  we  assume  that 
God  does  not  know  our  needs  and  must  be  told 
them,  or  that  knowing  them  he  "will  not  supply 
them  unless  asked? 

3.  Has  prayer  any  objective  reality?  Is  there 
anyone  who  really  hears  and  cares  and  answers? 
Does  anything  really  happen  outside  ourselves 
when  we  pray? 

i.  Does  not  natural  law  preclude  prayer? 

Let  us  note  that  law  is  not  some  independent 
entity  or  force  or  self-directing  power.  It  is  neither 
mind,  matter  nor  energy.  Law  is  only  the  way  of 
working  of  some  reality,  or  else  our  own  observa- 
tion of  the  way  things  seem  to  work.  But  things 
do  not  work  themselves.  We  observe  a  rationality 
and  regularity  in  the  universe.  It  is  but  the  way  of 
God's  working;  as  the  poet  tells  us,  "Law  is  but  a 

name  for  an  effect  whose  cause  is  God." 

122 


DIFFICULTIES  CONCERNING  PRAYER    123 

Natural  law  no  more  prevents  prayer  than  it 
prevents  friendship;  rather,  it  furthers  both.  The 
world  apparently  was  made  for  persons  and  their 
development.  If  so,  it  was  made  for  prayer.  The 
regularity  of  law  and  reliability  of  nature,  rather 
than  interfering  with  prayer,  enable  us  to  pray  with 
confidence  and  to  cooperate  with  God  for  the  answer- 
ing of  our  prayers. 

For  illustration,  here  is  a  vast  electric  railway 
system,  with  a  power  plant  costing  millions,  and  an 
extended  service  for  multitudes.  Is  it  conceivable 
that  the  car  of  this  great  plant  will  stop  for  a  little 
boy  and  his  coin,  or  will  take  notice  of  a  single  pas- 
senger? Yes,  because  the  system  itself  was  planned 
so  that  this  very  boy,  the  individual  passenger,  and 
the  whole  community  might  use  it.  The  plant  was 
made  for  the  passenger,  not  the  passenger  for  the 
plant.  If  it  is  God's  world  and  was  made  for  man, 
prayer  is  one  of  the  prearranged  laws  of  the  uni- 
verse. 

We  are  increasingly  finding  how  we  can  use  the 
laws  of  nature  and  how  they  can  be  adapted  to  man's 
needs.  When  the  writer  was  crossing  the  ocean 
recently,  a  thousand  miles  out  at  sea  we  could  hear 
by  the  ship's  wireless  apparatus  a  conversation  car- 
ried on  between  London  and  Geneva  concerning  the 
League  of  Nations.  Recently  when  Alexander  Gra- 
ham Bell  in  Washington  was  conversing  by  wireless 
telephone  with  the  Eiffel  Tower  in  Paris,  he  was 
interrupted  by  a  man  from  Honolulu,  in  mid-Pacific, 
joining  in  the  conversation.    If  man  can  thus  increas- 


124  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

ingly  utilize  natural  laws  and  forces,  why  cannot 
God  also,  if  it  is  his  world? 

To  answer  prayer,  God  does  not  have  to  interfere 
or  to  suspend  law  or  break  into  his  world  from 
without.  He  is  here  already,  immanent  in  mind  and 
matter,  in  every  force  which  is  the  expression  of  his 
will,  in  every  law  which  is  but  the  observed  and 
reliable  habit  of  his  working.  The  scientific  man  no 
longer  sets  bounds  to  the  possible,  and  we  cannot 
limit  what  God  can  do,  save  in  the  realm  of  the 
morally  impossible.  Law,  which  is  another  name  for 
God's  faithfulness,  enables  us  to  pray  and  God  to 
answer. 

2.  //  God  is  good,  will  he  not  give  what  is  best 
for  us  without  our  asking? 

Our  conception  of  prayer  will  be  determined  by 
our  conception  of  God.  If  God,  as  we  have  found 
reason  to  believe,  is  a  loving,  intelligent  Will;  if  he 
is  such  a  God  as  Jesus  affirmed,  then  the  life  of 
Jesus  is  a  revelation  both  of  man's  sonship  and  of 
God's  Fatherhood,  of  the  necessity  and  nature  of 
prayer,  and  of  the  bond  between  God  and  man. 

You  say,  "Why  should  we  ask  in  prayer?  Will 
not  a  good  God  automatically  give  what  is  good?" 
Our  answer  is  that  we  pray  for  the  following  rea- 
sons: 

Prayer  is  the  inevitable  necessity  of  the  dependent 
life.  We  are  not  automatic  machines,  nor  is  God  a 
mechanical  providence,  but  a  loving  Father.  All 
life  is  social,  horizontally  in  fellowship  with  men, 
vertically  in  fellowship  with  God.  Life  is  but  the 
sum  total  of  our  personal  relationships.     The  laws 


DIFFICULTIES  CONCERNING  PRAYER    125 

in  the  two  realms,  human  and  divine,  are  similar. 
The  environment  of  the  soul  is  God,  and  our  corre- 
spondence with  him  is  prayer.  As  the  lungs  are 
constructed  for  breathing,  our  spiritual  life  is  made 
for  fellowship.  We  pray  because  it  is  the  law  of 
our  life,  the  nature  of  our  being. 

Asking  and  receiving  is  a  law  of  life,  human  and 
divine.  Jesus  challenged  man  to  pray,  "Ask,  seek, 
knock."  In  life,  broadly  speaking,  it  is  the  one  who 
asks  who  receives;  it  is  the  seeker  who  finds;  it  is 
the  man  who  knocks  who  is  admitted.  Here  is  a 
general  law  of  life,  though  modified  by  certain  con- 
ditions, such  as  asking  according  to  God's  will.  We 
are  always  occupied  by  the  limitations  of  prayer. 
Jesus  was  concerned  with  its  possibilities.  Broadly 
speaking,  prayer  has  an  answer.  Man  usually  gets 
what  he  seeks,  if  he  seeks  truly,  teachably,  and  per- 
sistently, whether  of  man  or  of  God. 

God  does  not,  because  he  cannot,  give  automati- 
cally what  is  good,  for  my  good  depends  on  my 
spiritual  state.  What  is  good  for  me,  if  I  am  pre- 
pared by  prayer  and  able  profitably  to  receive  it, 
may  be  other  and  better  than  what  would  be  good 
for  me  if  unprepared  and  unreceptive.  Unasked 
blessing,  like  unearned  wealth,  may  be  unappreciated 
and  even  harmful.  The  object  of  prayer  is  not  so 
much  to  get  things,  but  to  get  God  himself,  not  to 
possess  but  to  become,  to  be  such  persons  that  we 
may  share  God's  life.  Thus  God  cannot  give  for- 
giveness or  purity  of  heart  to  a  man  who  does  not 
desire  or  ask  for  them.  A  forced  or  arbitrary  gift 
would  often  be  not  a  blessing  but  a  curse.    We  need 


126  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

such  divine  help  as  shall  enable  us  to  achieve  for 
ourselves  in  moral  freedom.  What  would  be  im- 
possible in  an  isolated  independent  life  is  made  pos- 
sible by  dependent  fellowship  in  prayer.  Thus  the 
fundamental  law  of  prayer  remains,  "Ask  and  ye 
shall  receive."     "Ye  have  not  because  ye  ask  not." 

Prayer  is  the  language  of  the  spiritual  family,  of 
children  to  their  Father,  the  normal  and  necessary 
means  of  communication  and  of  fellowship.  Ac- 
cording to  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  we  may  follow  the 
analogy  of  the  family  in  learning  our  true  relation  to 
God.  There  are  some  things  that  a  wise  parent  does 
not  give  a  child  whether  it  asks  for  them  or  not, 
such  as  poison  or  a  sharp  knife,  or  a  weapon.  There 
are  some  things  which  the  parent  gives  without  wait- 
ing to  be  asked,  such  as  daily  food.  But  there  are 
some  things  which  we  only  get  when  we  ask ;  for  our 
asking  furnishes  the  condition  of  our  receiving. 
The  need  voiced  in  a  request  shows  our  apprecia- 
tion; it  prepares  us  to  receive  the  thing  which  we 
now  consciously  desire.  Thus,  when  the  child  is  old 
enough  to  appreciate  and  ask  for  higher  education, 
for  some  further  opportunity  for  self-development 
or  service,  the  very  asking  prepares  and  enables  the 
parent  to  give  and  the  child  to  receive.  In  like 
manner,  there  are  some  harmful  things  God  will 
not  give  whether  we  pray  or  not,  other  necessary 
things  he  gives  without  our  asking,  but  there  are 
still  others  which  only  prayer  makes  it  possible  for 
us  to  receive. 

The  object  of  prayer  is  not  to  get  what  we  want, 
but  what  God  wants,  not  to  change  God,  but  our 


DIFFICULTIES  CONCERNING  PRAYER    127 

own  ignorant  and  sinful  hearts.  It  is  like  the  pull  of 
a  rope  from  a  small  boat  upon  a  great  ship  at 
anchor;  it  is  not  the  ship  that  moves,  but  the  little 
boat.  Prayer  is  not  teasing  God  to  supply  the 
whims  and  selfish  desires  of  spoiled  children.  It  is 
the  conversation  of  the  spiritual  family,  talking  with 
the  Father,  to  learn  what  is  best  for  us  and  our 
brothers.  We  must  learn  to  get  answers  to  our 
prayers,  just  as  we  do  to  get  answers  to  our  exam- 
ples in  arithmetic;  and  we  may  learn  in  the  school  of 
prayer,  as  in  the  school  of  life.  All  prayer  has  an 
answer;  it  may  not  be  the  exact  thing  that  we  ask 
but  something  better,  wiser  or  higher.  The  waiting 
on  God  searches  our  motives,  purifies  our  desires, 
teaches  us  God's  higher  purpose,  and  prepares  us  to 
receive  God's  best. 

3.  Is  prayer  really  answered? 

We  can  now  turn  to  the  final  difficulty  of  prayer, 
which  is  central  and  fundamental.  As  an  abstract 
proposition  or  theory,  like  the  rational  evidence  for 
the  existence  of  God,  the  possibilities  of  prayer  can 
neither  be  proved  nor  disproved  by  a  priori  reason- 
ing. But  prayer  can  be  tested  in  experience.  We 
believe  in  the  reality  of  prayer  for  the  following 
reasons : 

Prayer  is  an  ineradicable  instinct  in  the  human 
heart.  It  is  as  inevitable  to  the  spiritual  life  as 
breath  is  to  our  physical  life.  Professor  James 
shows  that  "the  reason  why  we  do  pray  is  simply 
that  we  cannot  help  praying."  "It  seems  probable 
that,  in  spite  of  all  that  'science'  may  do  to  the  con- 
trary, men  will  continue  to  pray  to  the  end  of  time. 


128  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

.  .  .  For  most  of  us,  a  world  with  no  such  inner 
refuge  .  .  .  would  be  the  abyss  of  horror."  *  No 
tribe,  however  savage,  no  people  or  nation  has  yet 
been  found  without  religion,  and  prayer  in  some 
forms  seems  well-nigh  universal  in  human  experi- 
ence. 

Prayer  survives  because  it  has  stood  the  test  of 
experience.  Unless  it  were  a  reality,  it  would  suffer 
atrophy,  decay  and  death;  it  would  wither  like  an 
unused  organ.  Conversely,  as  the  objective  devel- 
ops the  subjective,  as  environment  stimulates  appe- 
tite, as  use  develops  function,  the  survival  and  de- 
velopment of  prayer  points  toward  the  reality  of  a 
God  who  hears  and  answers.  As  truly  as  the  lungs 
bear  witness  to  the  atmosphere,  as  the  eye  to  light, 
and  the  wing  of  the  bird  to  the  air,  so  truly  the 
survival  of  prayer  bears  witness  to  God.  If  it 
met  no  response,  no  answer,  it  would  soon  be  weeded 
out  of  the  race.2 

Prayer  has  been  tested  by  the  experience  of  hu- 
manity. As  we  have  seen,  we  hold  that  to  be  true 
which  is  capable  of  repeated  verification.  Read 
through  the  great  Psalms,  and  hear  the  voice  of  a 
thousand  years  of  Jewish  history  uttered  in  prayer 
and  petition.  Do  these  sound  like  the  vapid  dreams 
of  a  morbid  and  superstitious  imagination?     Down 

1  "Psychology,"  William  James,  Vol.  i,  page  316. 

"There  is  no  hunger  for  anything  not  tasted,  as  John  Fiske,  in 
his  "Through  Nature  to  God,"  has  well  shown;  "there  is  no 
search  for  anything  which  is  not  in  the  environment,  for  the 
environment  has  always  produced  the  appetite.  Then,  may  not 
this  native  need  of  the  soul  have  risen  out  of  the  divine  origin  of 
the  soul?  It  would  at  least  seem  that  it  has  steadily  verified  itself 
as  a  safe  guide  to  reality."  "Concerning  Prayer,"  B.  H.  Streeter, 
p.  118. 


DIFFICULTIES  CONCERNING  PRAYER    129 

the  centuries  the  human  heart  has  prayed  and  re- 
peated the  universal  experience  of  the  Psalmists  of 
old,  as  they  will  be  doubtless  repeated  to  the  end  of 
time. 

Jesus  prayed.  Here  is  reason  enough  for  me  to 
test  the  possibility  of  prayer.  If  prayer  could  pro- 
duce such  a  life,  such  a  character,  such  teaching  of 
truth,  could  give  such  a  conception  of  God  and  such 
fellowship  with  him,  let  me  learn  its  secret,  let  me 
test  its  efficacy.  If  he  needed  to  pray,  how  much 
more  do  we.  Let  us  read  again  the  record  of  his 
life  and  his  teaching  on  prayer,  and  feel  its  ring  of 
reality.  Even  today  he  is  teaching  men  as,  at  their 
request,  he  taught  his  first  disciples  to  pray. 

Men  have  prayed  and  tested  the  reality  and  power 
of  prayer  through  the  centuries  since  Christ.  Ex- 
perimentally it  seems  to  work.  Men  of  prayer  are 
men  of  God.  There  is  a  power,  a  peace  in  their  lives 
which  the  prayerless  do  not  know.  The  early  dis- 
ciples had  found  in  prayer  a  power  which  trans- 
formed them.  The  Apostle  Paul  seems  to  lay  hold 
of  this  hidden  secret  which  enables  him  to  achieve 
the  seemingly  impossible.  Men  like  Francis  of 
Assisi,  Martin  Luther,  John  Wesley,  and  a  great 
army  of  normal  Christian  people  have  found  comfort 
and  help  in  prayer.  Their  characters  shine  with  a 
light  not  reflected  by  the  prayerless. 

We  can  prove  the  reality  of  prayer  only  by  pray- 
ing. No  philosophy  can  prove  or  disprove  it.  No 
philosophy  or  science  has  ever  shown  that  God 
cannot  put  a  thought  in  the  mind  of  man.  If  he  can- 
not, he  is  more  helpless  than  a  little  child  or  any  man 


130  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

who  asks  and  receives  what  he  needs  from  a  friend. 
If  God  can  put  a  thought  in  the  mind  of  man,  he  can 
thereby  answer  most  prayers  through  human  co- 
operation. 

Should  anyone  say  that  he  does  not  know  how  to 
pray,  he  may  soon  learn  the  beginning  of  this  simple 
art.  Let  him  turn  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  in 
Matthew  6:5-14.  As  a  beginning  Jesus  teaches  a 
typical  prayer.  Here  are  six  simple  petitions,  three 
of  them  concerning  God  and  three  concerning  our 
need.  The  prayer  begins  with  "Our  Father,"  his 
name  or  character,  his  Kingdom  of  good,  and  his 
will  on  earth.  It  also  embraces  our  daily  bread,  our 
debts,  and  our  temptations.  Of  the  six  petitions, 
one  only  is  for  material  or  temporal  need,  and  that 
just  enough  for  one  day's  supply  of  food.  The  other 
five  petitions  are  occupied  with  the  great  moral  and 
spiritual  ends  of  life,  for  man  does  not  live  by  bread 
alone.  Here  is  a  model  prayer  for  us.  It  is  being 
uttered  daily  by  men  who  are  praying  in  every 
tongue,  and  by  learning  not  its  words,  but  its  spirit, 
we  too  may  enter  into  a  new  life  of  prayer.  We  may 
begin  with  the  thought, 

"Speak  to  him  thou  for  he  hears,  and  spirit  with  spirit  can 
meet; 
Closer  is  he  than  breathing,  and  nearer  than  hands  to  feet." 

But  we  shall  end  in  the  larger  truth, 

"My  need  and  thy  great  fulness  meet, 
And  I  have  all  in  thee." 


IX 
CONVERSION 

What   is   a    Christian?     How   can    one    live   a 
Christian  life  and  what  do  you  mean  by  conversion? 

In  a  developing  world  we  are  faced  by  that 
strange  contradiction  of  life  called  sin.  There  seems 
to  be  something  wrong  with  us,  a  kind  of  inner 
cleavage,  a  rift  at  the  very  center  of  personality. 
There  is  a  maladjustment  of  life,  a  contradiction 
between  the  ideal  and  the  actual,  between  what  I 
might  be  and  what  I  am. 

Sin  is  living  for  partial  ends  and  the  assertion  of 
my  lower  self,  against  the  expression  of  my  best  and 
truest  self  in  right  relations  with  God  and  with  my 
fellow  men.  It  is  living  from  the  false  center  of 
self,  in  correspondence  with  a  lower  material,  and 
at  times  sensuous  environment.  It  is  a  break  with 
the  higher  environment  of  the  personality  and  a 
denial  of  the  nobler  possibilities  of  life.  It  is  miss- 
ing the  mark.  It  is  really  a  disease — the  thriving  of 
a  lower  parasitic  form  of  life  at  the  expense  of  the 
higher  life. 

For  Christians,  Jesus  represents  the  embodiment 
of  the  supreme  possibilities  of  the  higher  and  better 
life.  A  Christian  is  just  a  follower  of  Christ,  one 
who  is  honestly  trying  to  follow  Jesus'  way  of  life. 

131 


132  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

"A  Christian  is  one  who  is  responding  to  all  the 
meanings  which  he  finds  in  Christ."  The  first  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus  knew  little  of  orthodoxy,  of  creeds, 
or  of  conventional  theological  belief  when  they  be- 
gan to  follow  him.  They  were  just  simple  learners 
or  followers  of  Jesus  and  that  is  all  that  we  need 
to  be. 

For  the  Christian,  all  worthy  aims  are  unified  and 
find  their  driving  power  in  supreme  loyalty  to  Jesus 
and  his  cause.  What  is  contrary  to  the  ideals  of 
Jesus,  what  will  hurt  his  cause,  whether  in  personal 
life,  in  business  affairs,  or  in  political  relationships, 
you  can  count  on  the  true  Christian  avoiding.  What 
is  in  line  with  the  ideals  of  Jesus,  what  will  help 
forward  his  cause,  to  these  you  can  count  on  a 
Christian  giving  himself  with  complete  abandon. 
Seeking  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  his  Righteousness 
is  the  center  of  his  life  and  he  finds  all  other  true 
loyalties  finding  their  place  "added  unto  him,"  in 
relation  to  this  supreme  passion  of  his  life. 

Biologically,  life  may  be  described  as  a  two-fold 
relation  of  action  and  reaction  between  the  organism 
and  its  environments.  It  is  always  active  toward  two 
main  results — hunger  and  love,  self-maintenance  and 
the  continuance  of  the  race,  the  struggle  for  life  and 
the  struggle  for  the  life  of  others,  self-realization 
and  the  realization  of  the  life  of  the  species.  Before 
these  two  dominant  instincts  or  capacities  of  life  are 
fully  developed,  or  if  they  are  perverted,  instead  of 
hunger  for  life  and  its  full  realization,  we  have  the 
manifestation  of  selfishness,  or  living  for  one's  own 
partial  ends,  regardless  of  the  welfare  of  others; 


CONVERSION  133 

and  before  love  is  developed  as  the  full  sharing  of 
life  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  all,  we  have  lust,  the 
desire  to  possess  for  our  own  selfish,  partial  ends 
without  regard  to  the  worth  and  welfare  of  others. 
What  then  is  conversion?  It  is  the  process, 
whether  sudden  or  gradual,  by  which  this  loyalty  to 
Jesus  becomes  the  reality  of  a  person's  life.  For 
some  it  represents  a  series  of  forward  steps.  For 
others,  who  have  been  living  contrary  to  Jesus  and 
his  ideals,  it  means  literally  turning  around,  a  change 
in  the  moral  direction  of  life.  When  the  lost  son 
came  to  himself  he  decided  to  go  back  to  his  father. 
Conversion  is  a  turning  from  the  false  center  of 
self  to  the  true  center  of  God  as  revealed  in  Jesus; 
from  a  base  selfishness  to  a  true  self-realization  in 
life  more  abundant;  from  the  false  lust  of  an  anti- 
social life  to  the  fullness  of  love  as  the  complete 
sharing  of  life  in  limitless  self-giving.  For  those 
who  have  grown  up  without  relation  to  Jesus,  con- 
version represents  a  change  of  spiritual  center  as 
radical  as  the  shift  from  the  earth  as  the  false  center 
of  the  Ptolemaic,  to  the  true  sun-centered  Coper- 
nican  system  of  astronomy.  It  is  spiritual  self-reali- 
zation in  the  adjustment  of  the  individual  in  the 
three  relationships  of  life,  religious,  moral  and 
social.  It  is  a  new  orientation  to  the  spiritual  uni- 
verse. It  is  "the  birth  of  a  new  dominant  affection 
by  which  the  God  consciousness  hitherto  marginal 
and  vague  becomes  focal  and  dynamic."  *  Conver- 
sion means  the  unification  of  the  divided  self,  or  the 
victory  of  the  true  self  in  its  identification  with  the 

1  Saunders,  "The  Adventure  of  the  Christian  Soul." 


134  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

ideal,  as  a  house  no  longer  divided  against  itself. 
This  involves  three  results. 

1.  A  new  vision  of  God  and  of  the  meaning  of  the 
will  of  God  in  human  life,  resulting  in  a  new  sense 
of  joy  and  power. 

2.  Christ  once  a  fact  of  history  becomes  now  a 
fact  of  conscience  and  of  experience.  The  lower 
self  as  the  habitual  center  of  one's  personal  energy 
is  segmented,  objectified  as  the  "tempter,"  rejected 
and  denied,  as  in  the  struggle  in  the  soul  of  every 
man  dramatically  described  by  Stevenson  in  his  "Dr. 
Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde."  The  lower  nature  is  now 
renounced  and  lurks  without  instead  of  dominating 
within. 

3.  A  new  enthusiasm  for  humanity,  expressing 
itself  in  a  life  of  service  and  sacrifice.  The  new 
man,  for  he  is  indeed  "a  new  creature,"  is  called  not 
only  to  love  God  with  all  his  heart  or  affection,  with 
all  his  mind  and  thought,  with  all  his  strength  and 
service,  with  all  his  soul  or  self,  but  he  must  love  his 
neighbor  as  himself.  The  individual  and  the  social 
aspects  of  the  Christian  life  become  the  two  poles  of 
a  current  of  full  power,  two  coordinate  hemispheres 
of  the  one  full  orbed  reality  of  life. 

Conversion  may  be  either  sudden  or  gradual,  ac- 
cording to  one's  temperament,  training  or  past  life. 
If  sudden  the  "new  man"  looks  with  joy  upon  what 
seems  to  be  a  new  world,  in  the  words  of  Tagore, 
"The  whole  world  was  one  glorious  music  and 
rhythm";  or  as  described  in  the  record  of  John 
Masefield's  "Everlasting  Mercy," 


CONVERSION  135 

"Oh  glory  of  the  lighted  mind 
How  dead  I'd  been,  how  dumb,  how  blind. 
The  station  brook  to  my  new  eyes 
Was  bubbling  out  of  paradise, 
The  waters  rushing  from  the  rain 
Were  singing  Christ  had  risen  again. 
I  thought  all  earthly  creatures  knelt 
From  rapture  of  the  joy  I  felt." 

Professor  James,  in  his  "Varieties  of  Religious 
Experience"  defines  conversion  as  the  process  by 
which  "a  life  hitherto  divided  and  consciously 
wrong,  inferior  and  unhappy,  becomes  united  and 
consciously  right,  superior  and  happy  in  consequence 
of  its  firm  hold  on  religious  realities."  * 

Multitudes  of  lives  have  found  the  reality  of  this 
experience  of  conversion,  like  those  recorded  in  Har- 
old Begbie's  "Broken  Earthenware,"  forming  in 
every  age  continuous  additions  to  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  As  Pascal  says,  "that  which  happened  to 
Jesus  Christ  is  transacted  in  the  soul  of  every  Chris- 
tian."    Thousands,  or  rather  millions  have  found 

1  Summing  up  a  vast  field  of  human  history  covering  many  cen- 
turies and  all  types  of  mind,  Professor  James  comes  to  the  follow- 
ing scientific  conclusions  as  to  the  reality  of  religious  experience: 

i.  "That  the  visible  world  is  part  of  a  more  spiritual  universe 
from  which  it  draws  its  chief  significance. 

2.  "That  union  with  or  harmonious  relation  to  this  higher  uni- 
verse is  our  true  end. 

3.  "That  prayer  or  inner  communion  with  the  spirit  thereof  is  a 
process  wherein  work  is  really  done,  and  spiritual  energy  flows  in 
and  produces  effects  within  the  phenomenal  world. 

4.  "Religion  includes  a  new  zest  which  adds  itself  like  a  gift 
to  life. 

5.  "An  assurance  of  safety  and  temper  of  peace  and  prepon- 
derance of  loving  affections." 

"God  thus  becomes  the  supreme  reality.  We  and  God  have 
business  with  each  other  and  in  opening  ourselves  to  his  influence 
our  deepest  destiny  is  fulfilled.  The  universe  takes  a  turn  for  the 
worse  or  better  in  proportion  as  each  one  of  us  fulfills  or  evades 
God's  demands." — "Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,"  p.  485. 


136  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

the  experience  of  General  Booth,  "The  Holy  Spirit 
had  shown  me  that  my  real  welfare  for  time  and 
eternity  depended  upon  the  surrender  of  myself  to 
the  service  of  God.  After  long  controversy  I  made 
this  submission,  cast  myself  on  his  mercy,  received 
the  assurance  of  his  pardon,  and  gave  myself  up  to 
his  service  with  all  my  heart." 

As  to  the  means  of  realizing  this  spiritual  life, 
there  are  three  common  errors  to  be  avoided.  First 
of  all,  no  man  can  get  right  within,  merely  by  out- 
ward forms  and  ceremonies.  Outward  acts  and 
forms  have  their  place  if  they  represent  inward 
spiritual  reality.  But  the  essence  of  religion  is  an 
inward  relationship,  not  an  outward  ceremonial.  No 
mechanical  or  formal  rite  is  a  substitute  for  this 
inward  transformation.  The  Pharisee  thought  he 
was  saved  by  his  outward  institutions  and  privileges ; 
by  circumcision,  the  passover,  the  scrupulous  tithing 
of  petty  trifles;  he  overlooked  the  great  essentials  of 
justice  and  mercy,  of  love  for  God  and  man. 

Again,  a  man  is  not  made  right  by  purely  selfish 
or  legal  good  works  to  acquire  merit.  These  have 
always  been  the  first  impulse  of  the  natural  man  in 
every  age  and  in  every  religion.  But  the  inevitable 
failure  of  this  method  is  evident  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  case.  For  religion,  as  we  have  seen,  is  not 
an  attainment  but  an  attitude,  not  the  making  of  a 
record  but  the  making  of  a  man,  not  a  series  of 
Pharisaic  meritorious  works,  but  the  loving  personal 
relationship  of  a  son  to  a  Father.  Many  a  modern 
man,  who  never  dreams  himself  to  be  a  Pharisee, 
sets  up  some  subjective  or  arbitrary  standard  of  his 


CONVERSION  137 

own  of  outward  morality  and  because  he  is  better 
than  some  others  around  him,  or  prides  himself  on 
his  generous  impulses,  or  has  done  "about  as  near 
right  as  he  can,"  thinks  he  has  all  the  religion  he 
needs.  He  forgets  that  religion  is  not  only  doing 
right,  but  being  right,  with  God,  with  one's  self, 
with  one's  fellow  men. 

A  third  error  is  avoided  if  we  remember  that 
religion  does  not  consist  in  the  pride  of  knowledge, 
nor  in  dead  and  formal  "faith  without  works,"  nor 
in  mere  orthodoxy  of  belief.  It  is  not  outward 
familiarity  but  inward  response  that  determines  re- 
ligious reality.  We  are  rightly  related  to  God  by 
faith  alone,  but  true  faith  is  never  alone,  it  always 
manifests  itself  in  works.  Faith  is  the  root,  works 
are  the  fruit;  faith  is  the  cause,  works  are  the 
result. 

On  God's  side  conversion  is  the  giving  of  a  gift, 
on  our  part  the  receiving  of  it.  Jesus,  however,  did 
not  speak  of  this  experience  as  of  a  deep  theological 
mystery,  but  as  the  simplest  and  most  natural  thing 
in  the  world.  In  the  first  gospel  he  is  recorded  as 
speaking  of  it  under  such  natural  figures  as  simply 
entering  a  door  or  gate,  accepting  an  invitation  to  a 
glad  wedding  feast,  turning  to  God  with  the  teach- 
able spirit  of  a  little  child.  In  the  second  gospel  it  is 
just  believing  a  piece  of  good  news,  following  a  per- 
son in  fellowship  and  service,  with  the  resultant 
healing  of  a  divided,  broken  personality  so  that  life 
is  made  "whole"  with  all  its  powers  restored.  In 
the  third  gospel  the  experience  on  God's  side  is 
likened  to  the  finding  of  a  lost  sheep  by  a  shepherd 


138  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

or  a  lost  coin  by  its  owner,  and  on  the  man's  side  to 
the  return  of  a  lost  son  to  his  father.  In  the  fourth 
gospel  it  is  the  receiving  of  a  person  as  an  indwelling 
guest  in  the  heart,  or,  to  an  ignorant  woman,  it  is 
likened  to  taking  a  drink  to  quench  the  thirst  of 
life.1  Only  once  to  a  theologian  does  he  speak  of 
the  mystery  of  being  "born  from  above,"  and  after 
all  what  more  is  that,  on  the  human  side,  than  just 
entering  life,  or  beginning  to  live  as  a  little  child? 
Becoming  a  Christian  is  just  beginning  to  be  one, 
becoming  a  learner  of  Christ's  teaching  and  a  fol- 
lower of  his  life. 

The  clearest  teaching  of  all  is  that  of  the  simple 
story  of  the  son  who  lost  his  father.  He  was  wrong 
with  his  father,  with  himself,  with  his  family.  He 
turned  his  back  upon  his  father  and  his  face  to  his 
own  selfish  love  of  sin.  He  was  "lost"  to  his  father, 
that  is,  he  was  away  from  the  one  to  whom  he 
belonged.  Rags,  swine  and  harlots  were  only  the 
outward  symbols  of  the  wrongs  that  started  when 
he  turned  his  back  on  his  father,  for  he  was  equally 
wrong  whether  in  rags  or  in  respectability,  with 
swine  or  with  selfish  Pharisees.  Observe  the  man- 
ner of  his  return  when  he  said,  "I  will  arise  and  go  to 
my  father"  He  did  not  stay  away  to  earn  merit  or 
become  more  respectable.  And  "he  came  to  him- 
self" for  he  had  been  living  beside  himself,  or 
beneath  himself,  out  of  his  true  self.  As  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  conversion  implies,  he  simply  turned 

1  See  Matthew  7:13,  18:2,  22:2.     Mark  1:15,  17.     Luke  15.     John 
1:12,  3:16,  4:10,  14,  5:24,  10:9,  10. 


CONVERSION  139 

around  and  came  home  to  a  new  life  of  joy  and 
service. 

This  challenge  must  face  every  reader  of  these 
lines.  Professor  James  in  his  classic  essay  "The 
Will  to  Believe,"  shows  that  every  proposal  to  act 
comes  to  us  in  the  form  of  an  hypothesis.  It  may  be 
an  issue  that  is  either  living  or  dead;  it  may  be  one 
that  is  either  forced  or  avoidable;  it  may  be  either 
momentous  or  trivial.  The  question  that  we  now 
have  before  us  is  that  of  the  very  meaning  of  life, 
involving  also  the  questions  of  the  existence  and 
nature  of  God,  the  value  of  Christ,  the  call  of  duty, 
of  social  obligation  and  of  human  destiny.  It  is  a 
living  issue,  it  is  unavoidable,  and  it  is  momentous. 
It  affects  character  and  destiny  for  time  and  eter- 
nity. It  is  for  every  man  the  supreme  question,  for 
upon  it  all  the  issues  of  life  depend. 

This,  in  a  word,  is  the  meaning  of  conversion,  the 
way  of  entrance  into  the  Christian  life.  Has  the 
reader  taken  that  way  for  himself? 


X 

MORAL  MASTERY 

In  the  struggle  with  temptation,  what  is  the 
secret  of  moral  mastery  over  one's  self?  How  can 
I  get  victory  over  sinf 

In  discussing  conversion  we  found  that  sin  was 
living  on  the  lower  instead  of  the  higher  plane,  for 
the  lower  self  instead  of  the  higher.  If  this  is  so, 
the  secret  of  victory  over  sin  will  be  not  violently 
overcoming  the  lower  desires  but  of  lifting  life  to  a 
higher  plane,  not  in  repression  of  the  lower  but  in 
expression  of  the  higher,  not  in  seeking  to  eradicate 
evil  but  in  overcoming  it  with  good,  not  in  morbidly 
dwelling  upon  our  sins  but  in  forgetting  ourselves 
in  the  abandon  of  a  great  quest  and  in  seeking  first 
the  highest  aim  of  life. 

Psychologists  who  deal  with  abnormal  behavior, 
say  it  arises  usually  from  the  repressing  of  the  great 
natural  instincts  of  life.  Thus  man  has  the  instincts 
of  pugnacity  and  of  sex.  These  are  not,  as  the  as- 
cetic morbidly  believed,  carnal  and  sinful,  but  nor- 
mal inherited  instincts,  God-given  potentialities  of 
life.  The  instinct  of  self-assertion  and  pugnacity 
may  be  wrongly  developed  in  the  street  fighter  or 
gunman,  or  realized  as  a  great  driving  power  in  a 
Wilberforce  as  he  battles  with  the  slave  trade  for 
forty-six  years  and  helps  to  free,  without  a  bloody 

140 


MORAL  MASTERY  141 

war,  all  the  slaves  in  the  British  Empire.  In  the 
same  way  sex  is  the  basis  of  much  of  the  highest 
idealism  in  life.  It  may  be  perverted  to  vice  or 
crime,  morbid  introspection,  or  ingrowing  repres- 
sion that  will  fester  and  poison  the  whole  life,  or  it 
may  be  lifted  to  a  higher  plane  of  normal  healthy 
expression. 

It  must  be  recognized  at  the  start  that  here  is  a 
great  dynamo  of  power  that  may  be  geared  for 
destruction  or  construction.  We  must  abandon  the 
false  and  ancient  dualism  between  the  sacred  and 
secular,  the  spiritual  and  physical. 

Modern  psychologists  show  that  for  moral  vic- 
tory we  need  not  primarily  struggle  for  repression, 
but  "sublimation"  and  expression.  By  sublimation 
we  mean  giving  realization  to  a  normal  instinct  on  a 
higher  plane,  or  if  repressed  in  one  way  giving  a 
new  channel  of  expression  in  another  way  that  is 
good.  It  is  the  forgoing  a  lower,  limited,  imme- 
diate gratification  of  desire,  for  a  nobler,  richer, 
more  lasting  satisfaction  on  a  higher  level  of  life.1 
Do  not  retire  to  a  cave  or  monastery  to  "mortify 
the  flesh,"  but  in  healthy  social  life  forget  the  strug- 
gle by  losing  yourself  in  service,  in  a  great  enthusi- 

1  Thus  sex  is  the  physical  basis  of  the  highest  and  finest  develop- 
ments in  life.  It  is  normal,  natural  and  of  divine  origin.  For 
"God  created  man  in  his  own  image  .  .  .  male  and  female 
created  he  them.  And  God  blessed  them  .  .  .  and  God  saw  every- 
thing that  he  had  made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very  good."  From 
this  God-given  basis  of  sex,  when  developed  on  the  higher, 
spiritual  plane,  springs  love,  manhood,  womanhood,  the  home,  the 
family,  fatherhood,  motherhood,  our  very  conception  of  God  as 
"Father,"  parental  care,  sacrifice,  service,  chivalry,  the  love  of 
beauty,  art  and  much  of  our  highest  experience  in  morality  and 
religion.  Let  us  not  therefore  look  upon  that  which  God  has 
blessed  as  common,  or  unclean,  or  as  some  secret,  hidden  thing. 


142  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

asm  for  a  goal  so  high  that  the  lure  of  the  lower 
life  will  appear  loathsome  and  morally  impossible. 
Jesus'  way  of  life  and  his  quest  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  will  afford  the  most  successful  antidote  for  the 
lower  life.  There  will  come  times,  however,  of 
choice  and  of  struggle,  as  when  Jesus  retired  to  the 
wilderness  to  have  it  out  once  for  all  with  certain 
temptations,  and  then,  consumed  by  a  great  purpose 
and  dominated  by  a  major  choice,  lived  on  such  a 
high  plane  that  all  the  lower  attractions  were  ex- 
cluded and  exposed  as  false  denials  and  contradic- 
tions of  the  true  life.  We  usually  fail,  not  because 
we  do  not  struggle  hard  enough,  but  because  we  live 
on  the  lower  levels  of  life,  because  we  lack  the  ex- 
pulsive power  of  a  spiritual  dynamic. 

We  have  seen  that  sin  is  selfishness,  the  assertion 
of  self-will  against  my  right  relation  to  God,  to 
myself,  to  my  fellow-man.  We  have  seen  that  the 
two  basic  instincts  or  tendencies  of  life,  hunger  and 
love,  when  undeveloped  or  perverted  manifest  them- 
selves in  selfishness  and  lust.  These  correspond  to 
two  prevailing  types  of  temptation,  sins  of  disposi- 
tion rooted  in  selfishness,  and  sins  of  appetite  rooted 
in  lust. 

In  order  to  study  the  psychology  of  temptation, 
we  may  take  as  typical  of  the  latter  the  illustration 
of  Esau  selling  his  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pot- 
tage, or  the  progressive  steps  in  David's  fall.1  St. 
Augustine  sums  up  the  psychology  of  sin  in  four 
words — "A  look,  a  form,  a  fascination,  a  fall."  2 

1  Genesis   25:29-34;    Hebrews    12:16.     II   Samuel    11:1-5,    I4"17i 
12:1-15. 
*  "Imago,  cogitatio,  delectatio,   assensio." 


MORAL  MASTERY  143 

We  may  trace  the  psychology  of  Esau's  temptation 
in  these  four  successive  steps. 

i.  Attention.  There  is  first  the  concentration  of 
attention  on  the  object  of  his  selfish  appetite,  upon 
a  partial  not  a  true  end,  upon  the  pottage  rather 
than  the  birthright.  Upon  this  fine  edge  of  atten- 
tion turns  the  quivering  scale  of  life,  for  "what  gets 
your  attention  gets  you."  We  become  like  what  we 
look  at.  The  stream  of  thought  is  controlled  by 
sensation  from  without  and  the  law  of  association 
within  the  mind.  The  whole  trend  of  life  is  deter- 
mined by  the  direction  of  attention — "whoso  look- 
eth,"  directing  his  attention  to  the  lustful  and  low, 
commits  sin. 

2.  Imagination.  Attention  leads  to  the  forming 
of  a  mental  picture  thrown  into  the  foreground  of 
the  clamorous  and  imperative  present,  offering  the 
promise  of  immediate  gratification.  By  filling  the 
mental  screen  and  concentrating  the  focus  of  the 
mind  on  immediate  gratification,  the  man  becomes 
blind  to  the  reality  of  the  life-long  loss  of  the  birth- 
right, of  character,  of  happiness  and  of  real  life. 
Every  temptation  is  at  bottom  a  lie,  a  false  promise. 
And  it  begins  in  the  mind.  Here  we  stand  or  fall. 
"All  character  begins  in  thought;  and  all  thought 
tends  to  action."     As  you  think,  so  you  will  do. 

3.  Desire.  Attention  and  imagination  arouse  the 
strength  of  desire,  deep-rooted  back  in  habit  and 
heredity,  in  man  and  in  the  brute.  Desire  rises, 
clamorous  to  possess  and  to  satisfy  itself.  It  gains 
strength  by  concentrating  attention  on  its  object, 
until   the   man   is   finally   swept  past   "redemption 


144  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

point"  in  the  Niagara  current  above  the  falls,  and 
is  lost  in  the  roaring  torrent  that  dashes  over  the 
precipice  of  sin. 

4.  Choice.  By  the  concentration  of  attention,  by 
the  false  picture  of  imagination,  by  aroused  desire, 
gradually  thought  by  thought,  the  man  gives  way,  by 
growing  familiarity,  by  compromise,  till  the  will  has 
yielded.  It  is  not  usually  by  one  decisive  conscious 
choice  that  a  man  falls,  but  by  a  gradual  transition 
in  the  choice  of  the  lower  evil  which  gives  the  false 
promise  of  satisfaction. 

Thus  Esau  despised  his  birthright  and  went  on 
his  way  in  the  disgust  of  satiety,  for  appetite  is 
long  and  satisfaction  is  short,  and  the  glutting  of 
the  momentary  desires  of  the  lower  appetites  can 
never  satisfy  the  higher  and  eternal  demands  of 
man's  nature  which  is  essentially  spiritual.  Thus 
Esau  reenacts  the  scene  pictured  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden  which  is  repeated  in  the  tragedy  of  every  dis- 
illusioned life.  How  different  sin  looks  before  and 
after  it  is  committed !  Temptation  is  first  suggested 
as  "good  for  food,"  "pleasant  to  the  eyes,"  and  "to 
be  desired  to  make  one  wise";  but  after  the  man's 
fall  the  hideous  lie  stands  out  in  its  true  colors  as 
"the  lust  of  the  flesh  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and 
the  pride  of  life."  '  Instead  of  promised  "food" 
one  finds  the  disgust  of  satiety;  the  "delight  to  the 
eyes"  gives  place  to  the  shame  of  sin;  and  instead  of 
wisdom,  man  finds  folly,  misery  and  death.  Human 
history  on  its  negative  side  has  been  one  long  dis- 
illusionment of   a   prodigal   humanity   feeding  on 

1  Genesis  3:6  and  I  John  2:16. 


MORAL  MASTERY  145 

husks.  Once  and  for  ever,  every  temptation  is  at 
bottom  a  lie.  It  is  a  series  of  false  promises.  The 
first  lie  is,  "Just  this  once,  there  is  no  harm";  the 
second,  "Once  more,  and  then  I  will  swear  off";  the 
third,  "Now  I  have  fallen  I  might  as  well  go  for 
a  sheep  as  a  lamb";  the  fourth,  "Now  I  have  failed 
there  is  no  hope,  what  is  the  use  of  trying  again?" 
Each  is  false  and  leads  to  further  sin.  The  only 
safeguard  for  a  credulous  humanity  is  to  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  us  free. 

When  once  a  man  has  fallen,  what  are  the  results 
of  sin?  In  its  nature,  sin  is  rebellion  against  God 
and  it  results  in  alienation  or  separation  from  him. 
It  weakens  the  character  and  tends  to  a  disintegra- 
tion of  the  integrity  of  the  personality.  Even  if 
forgiven,  the  man  reaps  what  he  sows  and  he  is  not 
the  man  he  would  have  been  had  he  not  fallen. 
Further,  sin  robs  a  man  of  power  for  service.  It 
leaves  him  a  blinded  and  impotent  Samson  just  when 
his  fellow-men  need  a  deliverer  and  a  leader.  It 
results  in  the  loss  of  happiness  to  the  individual, 
and  finally  in  social  misery.  It  is  the  blighting  and 
blasting  of  human  life. 

If  such  are  the  results  of  sin,  of  which  we  all 
know  something  in  experience,  what  is  the  psychol- 
ogy of  victory?  It  lies,  in  a  word,  in  "the  expulsive 
power  of  a  new  affection."  One  impulse  can  only 
really  be  displaced  by  another.  Victory  depends 
on  our  habits  of  life,  upon  our  master  purpose  and 
its  expulsive  power,  upon  the  clear  vision  this  gives 
us  of  the  false  lure  of  the  lower  alternatives.  But 
in  the  formative  crises  of  choice,  in  the  inevitable 


146  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

times  of  struggle  victory  turns  chiefly  on  the  single 
fact  of  attention.  Here  is  the  secret  of  victory  in 
a  nut-shell — the  will  to  attend  to  the  good.  But  the 
will  may  be  weak  and  well-nigh  impotent  unless 
motivated  by  some  dominant  affection,  ideal  or  rela- 
tionship. Only  when  ideas  are  touched  with  emo- 
tion do  they  become  dynamic  ideals.  Only  a  higher 
love  will  expel  the  lower  lust.  As  Dr.  Richard 
Cabot  says,  "Passion  can  be  mastered  only  by  in- 
tenser  passion.  By  consecration  of  the  affection 
we  gain  victory  over  the  lower  impersonal  affec- 
tion." « 

President  King  writes, 

"The  problem  of  Christian  character  is  the  prob- 
lem of  meeting  temptation.  That  in  turn  is  the 
problem  of  self-control.  The  center  of  self-control 
is  the  will  and  the  center  of  will  is  attention,  i.e.,  vic- 
tory over  temptation  depends  on  ability  to  hold 
attention  firmly  fixed  on  the  higher  considerations. 
.  .  .  Do  not  dally  with  temptation.  Do  not  tarry 
in  the  presence  of  it.  Do  not  do  in  thought  the  act 
to  which  you  are  tempted.  The  thinking  has  its 
immediate  bodily  effect,  its  tendency  to  pass  into 
act.  When  you  dally  with  temptation,  when  you 
see  how  far  you  can  go  in  imagination  without  top- 
pling over  the  precipice  you  are  simply  heating  some 
brain  center  and  getting  a  thought  ready  to  dis- 
charge into  act.  You  are  playing  with  sparks  over 
a  powder  mine,  nay  putting  your  finger  on  the  trig- 
ger of  a  gun  and  beginning  to  press  it  and  yet  ex- 
pecting it  not  to  discharge."  "The  great  secret  of 
all  living  is  the  persistent  staying  in  the  presence  of 
the  best." 

1,(What  Men  Live  By."     Richard  C.   Cabot. 


MORAL  MASTERY  147 

Temptation  makes  its  appeal  not  as  a  cold  abstrac- 
tion but  to  flesh  and  blood;  and  victory  will  be  found 
for  most  men  not  in  abstract  considerations  of  vir- 
tue, but  in  the  warmth  and  passion  of  a  personal 
relationship.  Some  dominant  affection  must  be 
found  stronger  than  the  lure  of  the  lower  appetite. 
Victory  is  sometimes  found  over  a  particular  temp- 
tation in  the  human  relationship  of  "falling  in  love." 

"The  thoughts  ye  cannot  stay  with  brazen  chains, 
A  girl's  hair  lightly  binds." 

But  as  a  matter  of  historic  fact,  the  chief  impetus 
for  moral  victory  has  been  found  in  a  vital,  personal 
relationship  to  Jesus  Christ.  In  four  words  we  may 
describe  the  psychology  of  victory  as  we  have  that 
of  sin. 

i.  Attend  to  Christ;  "looking  away  from  all  else 
unto  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith."  * 
Beholding  him,  we  are  changed  into  the  same  image 
from  character  to  character.  We  become  like  what 
we  habitually  behold.  A  man  who  looks  at  obscene 
pictures  rouses  the  impure  within  himself.  The 
men  who  associated  with  Jesus  became  strangely  like 
him.  Sin  is  caused  by  a  narrowing  of  consciousness 
to  the  point  of  self-gratification.  Its  corrective  will 
be  in  a  widening  of  consciousness  to  take  in  one's 
whole  birthright  and  the  larger  realities  of  life; 
or  in  the  moment  of  crisis,  by  a  concentration  upon 
that  which  has  the  greatest  moral  expulsive  power 
in  life.  In  the  actual  experience  of  Christians  that 
power  will  be  found  to  be  in  Jesus  himself. 

1  Hebrews  12:1,  2. 


148  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

2.  Imagine  Christ,  his  presence,  his  love,  his 
purity,  the  kingdom  of  life  and  happiness  and  vic- 
tory which  he  offers  to  realize  in  our  experience,  and 
the  bitter  misery  of  shame  and  defeat  and  death  that 
result  from  sin.  "Ye  shall  know  the  truth  and  the 
truth  shall  make  you  free." 

3.  Arouse  the  love  of  Christ  in  your  heart,  not  as 
an  empty  emotion,  but  as  a  mighty  constraining  im- 
pulse against  sin,  combining  all  the  motive  of  the 
love  of  God  and  the  ability  to  serve  our  fellow-men 
if  we  overcome.  "For  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself 
that  they  also  may  be  sanctified." 

4.  Strengthen  the  will  and  reenforce  it  by  that 
act  which  is  found  to  have  the  largest  expulsive 
power  for  good  in  your  life,  whether  it  be  the  read- 
ing of  scripture,  or  prayer,  or  by  realizing  the  pres- 
ence of  Christ.  Choose  Christ  decisively,  then  count 
the  issue  closed  and  yourself  as  "dead  to  sin"  as  a 
moral  impossibility.  Protracted  dallying  with  temp- 
tation and  continual  longing  for  the  lower  gratifica- 
tion leads  you  into  a  sensuous  state  which  almost 
inevitably  tends  toward  its  gratification.  In  the 
mountains  of  India  we  had  to  live  "above  the  fever 
line." 

All  these  four  can  be  summed  up  in  a  word  which 
epitomizes  the  experience  of  Jesus'  followers,  "He 
that  abideth  in  him  sinneth  not."1 

Let  us  make  of  every  temptation  a  positive  op- 
portunity for  character.  It  is  not  only  a  lure  down- 
ward, it  is  also  a  call  upward-  Never  be  dis- 
couraged.    This  is  not  a  matter  of  a  moment  but 

1I  John  1:5-10,  3:1-6. 


MORAL  MASTERY  149 

the  permanent  central  issue  of  life  in  the  develop- 
ment of  character.  One  victory  won  and  you  may 
become  forever  a  new  man.  The  old  psychology 
said,  "a  man  does  what  he  is";  past  character  ex- 
presses itself  in  the  present  act;  but  the  new  psy- 
chology says  with  equal  truth  and  more  hope,  "a 
man  is  what  he  does,"  the  present  act  determines 
the  future  character.  Do  and  you  will  be,  act  and 
you  will  become,  overcome  now  and  you  become  for- 
ever a  new  man.1  Like  Jesus  after  his  temptation 
in  the  wilderness,  you  will  return  in  the  power  of 
the  Spirit  for  a  life  of  spiritual  service  and  strength. 
In  good  as  well  as  in  evil,  "Sow  a  thought,  you  reap 
an  act;  sow  an  act,  you  reap  a  habit;  sow  a  habit, 
you  reap  a  character;  sow  a  character,  you  reap  a 
destiny." 

Professor  James  in  his  chapter  on  Habit  sug- 
gests three  psychological  principles  which  we  may 
well  apply  to  our  spiritual  life. 

i.  "In  the  acquisition  of  a  new  habit,  or  the  leav- 
ing of  an  old  one,  we  must  take  care  to  launch  our- 
selves with  as  strong  and  decided  an  initiative  as 
possible. 

2.  "Never  suffer  an  exception  to  occur.  Each 
lapse  is  like  the  letting  fall  of  a  ball  of  string  which 
one  is  carefully  winding  up.  It  is  necessary  above 
all  things  never  to  lose  a  battle.  It  is  surprising 
how  soon  a  desire  will  die  of  inanition  if  it  is 
never  fed.  Without  unbroken  advance  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  accumulation  of  ethical  forces  pos- 
sible. 

'H.  C.  King,  "A  Rational  Fight  for  Character." 


150  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

3.  "Seize  the  very  first  possible  opportunity  to 
act  on  every  resolution  you  make  and  on  every  emo- 
tional prompting  you  may  experience  in  the  direction 
of  the  habits  you  aspire  to  gain.  Could  the  young 
but  realize  how  soon  they  will  become  mere  walk- 
ing bundles  of  habits,  they  would  give  more  heed 
to  their  conduct  while  in  the  plastic  state.  We  are 
spinning  our  own  fates,  good  or  evil.  Every  smal- 
lest stroke  of  virtue  or  vice  leaves  its  never  so  little 
scar.  Nothing  we  ever  do  is,  in  strict  scientific 
literalness,  'wiped  out.'  Such  is  the  testimony  of 
Psychology." 

Remember  finally,  since  temptation  is  so  strong 
that  it  is  beyond  your  strength,  that  you  need  also 
some  spiritual  power  that  is  beyond  you.  Here  is 
the  central  secret  of  victory  over  sin — "He  that 
abideth  in  him  sinneth  not."  ' 

*What  God  has  purposed  "He  is  able  to  perform."  "He  is  able 
to  make  all  grace  abound  unto  you,  that  ye,  having  always  all 
sufficiency  in  everything,"  may  have  victory  over  every  tempta- 
tion. "He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost"  every  tempted  man. 
"He  is  able  to  keep  you  from  falling,  to  guard  you  from  stum- 
bling." "He  is  able  to  make  the  weak  brother  stand."  And  God 
asks  "Believe  ye  that  I  am  able  to  do  this"  for  you?  If  God  is 
for  us,  who  is  against  us?  See  Eph.  i.  4;  I  Thess.  iv.  4;  iii.  8; 
v.  23;  2  Cor.  ix.  8;  Heb.  vii.  25;  Jude  24,  I  John  3:6. 


XI 

IS  OUR  RELIGION  WORTH  EXPORTING? 

In  view  of  the  great  evils  and  the  unsolved  prob- 
lems which  we  are  facing  in  our  own  country, 
how  are  we  justified  in  undertaking  foreign  mis- 
sions to  other  landsf  Is  Christianity  such  as  ours 
worth  exporting? 

We  admit  the  staggering  evils  and  overwhelming 
problems  found  in  America  today.  W7e  shall  try 
frankly'to  face  these  in  the  section  on  social  and  in- 
dustrial questions.  But  one  of  our  greatest  national 
evils  is  selfish  isolation.  We  shall  never  save  our- 
selves nor  help  the  world  by  selfishness.  Turning 
our  backs  upon  the  world's  need  will  not  improve 
our  own  condition.  In  serving  our  fellow-men  and 
other  nations  we  may  help  to  solve  our  own  prob- 
lems. As  in  the  case  of  the  individual,  the  nation 
that  saveth  its  life  shall  lose  it  and  the  one  that 
loseth  its  life  in  service  shall  find  it.  Are  we  to 
become  a  Dives  among  the  nations  with  a  hungry 
world  knocking  with  gaunt  and  bony  hands  at  our 
gates  of  brass?    If  so  we  shall  lose  our  own  soul. 

If  we  go  abroad  to  serve,  either  in  missions  or  in 
commerce,  it  should  not  be  without  a  deep  sense 
of  the  need  at  home  and  of  our  own  unworthiness, 
and  it  must  be  in  no  false  sense  of  superiority.  We 
must  go  to  recognize  the  good  in  every  race,  nation, 

151 


152  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

civilization  and  religion.  Without  such  good  no 
race  or  religion  would  have  survived  and  endured 
until  the  present.  Unless  we  have  a  deep  love  and 
sympathy  for  the  people  among  whom  we  work  we 
will  not  succeed. 

Though  we  must  frankly  admit  our  national  short- 
comings and  the  elements  of  worth  in  every  other 
race  and  religion,  we  must  not  be  blind  to  the  re- 
sponsibility for  our  privileges  that  must  be  shared. 
First  and  foremost,  there  is  the  privilege  of  the 
knowledge  of  God  as  revealed  in  Jesus  which  has 
been  the  source  of  most  of  what  is  best  morally  and 
spiritually  in  our  own  civilization.  Each  religion 
may  be  tested  by  four  standards — its  conception  of 
God,  of  man,  of  duty  and  of  destiny.  Christianity 
in  its  primitive  and  purest  form  contains  four  dy- 
namic concepts:  one  God,  as  a  loving  heavenly 
Father  of  all  men;  one  humanity  of  universal  broth- 
erhood, undivided  by  race  or  rank;  one  Saviour,  re- 
vealing the  nature  of  God,  the  duty  of  man  and  the 
way  of  life,  in  the  self-sacrificing  service  of  love;  one 
destiny,  in  the  realization  of  personal  life,  abundant, 
expanding  and  eternal,  and  of  social  redemption,  in 
the  building  of  a  Christian  social  order.  God  as 
Father,  man  as  brother,  Jesus  as  Saviour  and  the 
commonweal  of  God  as  our  social  goal  are  the  four 
unique  possessions  which  we  must  not  keep  for  our- 
selves alone  but  must  share  with  all  men. 

While  whole  volumes  would  be  required  to  do 
justice  to  the  elements  of  truth  and  beauty  which 
exist  in  other  religions,  yet  mere  sentiment  and 
sympathy  must  not  in  common  honesty  blind  us  to 


IS  OUR  RELIGION  WORTH  EXPORTING?    153 

their  radical  defects.  If  we  fairly  examine  these 
religions  in  the  light  of  Jesus'  teaching  we  shall  find 
that  to  the  believers  of  each  we  may  bring  a  unique 
message  of  life  which  they  deeply  need. 

Judaism,  despite  its  high  ethical  monotheism  and 
prophetic  promise,  was  never  able  to  break  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  an  exclusive  nationalism  and  to 
become  a  gospel  to  Gentiles,  or  a  universal  religion, 
save  as  it  was  fulfilled  in  Jesus  himself. 

Confucianism,  while  it  contains  high,  abstract 
ethical  principles,  is  by  its  inevitable  traditions  and 
associations,  riveted  to  the  past  and  to  the  social 
order  of  the  conservative  China  of  the  ancients. 
Grounded  in  a  self-centered  "superior  man,"  it  lacks 
the  mighty  dynamic  of  a  great  monotheism.  It  has 
recognized  no  relation  of  the  common  people  to  a 
personal  God,  it  has  deified  ancestors  but  revealed 
no  Heavenly  Father.  It  has  permitted  polygamy, 
and  polytheism,  but  it  is  without  a  Saviour,  without 
prayer,  without  adequate  comfort  in  life  or  death. 
Its  rigid  conservatism  affords  no  principle  of  prog- 
ress. It  has  never  appealed  to  or  satisfied  the 
masses  even  in  China  itself  and  offers  no  religious 
challenge  to  other  nations. 

Hinduism  is  the  religion  of  contemplation  and 
aims  not  at  the  realization  of  personality  in  com- 
plete relationships,  but  at  absorption  into  the  in- 
finite. If  God  alone  is  real,  the  individual  man, 
who  to  Jesus  was  of  infinite  worth,  becomes  an 
illusion;  history,  science,  the  whole  material  world 
and  human  life  are  a  dream.  Offering  an  esoteric, 
pantheistic   philosophy   for   the   privileged   few  of 


154  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

high  caste,  but  without  an  adequate  motive  of  service 
for  the  many  who  are  left  in  animism,  polytheism, 
idolatry  and  superstition,  it  breaks  down  both  in 
ideal  and  in  practice.  With  all  its  elements  of 
beauty  and  truth  which  will  survive,  it  has  never 
been  able  to  purge  itself  of  the  foul  and  ignoble.  It 
has  given  no  clear  and  consistent  view  of  destiny  in 
the  mists  of  rebirth  and  almost  endless  transmigra- 
tion in  this  world,  and  of  impersonal  absorption  of 
the  individual  in  the  life  to  come.  India  is  its  em- 
bodiment and  illustration.  Bound  by  the  social  sys- 
tem of  caste,  it  offers  no  missionary  message  for  all 
mankind  and  no  final  goal  for  humanity. 

Buddhism  counts  not  only  man  and  the  universe 
but  even  the  Absolute  as  illusion.  The  world  is  not 
to  be  redeemed  or  overcome  but  renounced.  Per- 
sonal life  is  not  to  be  realized  but  rejected.  The 
mother  who  has  lost  her  child  is  not  to  hope  for 
reunion  with  her  loved  one  in  a  life  after  death, 
but  to  love  no  more,  for  love  and  desire  are  not  to 
be  satisfied  but  suppressed.  The  goal  of  Buddhism 
is  no  new  social  order,  no  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth, 
but  a  dim,  distant,  indescribable  Nirvana.  It  offers 
no  adequate  social  gospel.  With  the  static  hope- 
less atheism  of  Southern  Buddhism  and  the  super- 
stition of  many  gods  and  demons  in  Northern  Asia, 
it  does  not  seem  to  offer  any  challenging  ideal  of 
hope  to  the  enlightened  world  of  today. 

Islam,  by  its  bold  monotheism  and  stern  morality, 
has  lifted  the  degraded  polytheists  of  Arabia  and 
the  savage  cannibals  of  Africa.  But  its  God,  instead 
of  being  a  loving  Father  in  Heaven  is  the  apotheosis 


IS  OUR  RELIGION  WORTH  EXPORTING?    155 

of  autocratic  power,  a  "Sultan  in  the  sky."  Man  is 
a  submissive  subject  rather  than  a  son.  He  is  under 
legal  religious  rules  rather  than  a  constraining  love, 
under  an  earthly  absolutism  rather  than  the  freedom 
of  democracy.  Islam  commanded  propaganda  by 
the  sword  rather  than  by  a  cross  of  sacrifice.  It  has 
cast  its  darkest  shadow  over  womanhood  in  coun- 
tenancing slavery,  polygamy,  concubinage  and  un- 
limited divorce,  even  in  its  authentic  source,  the 
Koran.  The  fruit  of  Islam  is  Turkey,  and  its  illus- 
tration is  in  the  lands  the  Moslem  has  conquered. 
It  has  always  sprung  from  or  tended  toward  a 
desert. 

Only  in  Jesus  do  we  find  simply  and  consistently 
the  truth  of  one  loving,  holy  God  as  universal 
Father,  man  as  son  of  God  united  in  one  brother- 
hood, both  bound  together  by  love,  the  principle  of 
their  common  nature,  and  expressed  in  service  for 
a  universal  Kingdom  of  God.1 

Under  these  non-Christian  religions  the  mass  of 
mankind  is  still  living.  We  go  not  to  destroy  but 
to  fulfill  all  the  aspirations  of  the  human  heart  and 
of  the  ethnic  religions.  In  the  continents  of  Asia 
and  Africa  alone,  half  the  human  race  still  cannot 
read  or  write  in  any  language.  On  the  mainland  of 
Asia  as  a  whole  and  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
Africa,  nine-tenths  of  the  children  are  not  at  school. 
Half  of  the  human  race  is  relatively  poor.  Half  of 
them  are  beyond  the  reach  of  modern  medical  sci- 

1  Hegel  speaks  of  Christianity  as  the  one  religion  of  Spirit  which 
proclaims  at  once  the  supreme  value  of  the  individual  and  the 
need  of  the  society  to  bring  him  to  perfection. — Gwatkin,  "The 
Knowledge  of  God,"  I,  256. 


156  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

ence.  Over  half  of  them  still  worship  God  through 
the  imperfect  symbol  of  some  idol  or  fetish  that 
misrepresents  him  rather  than  represents  him  as  a 
loving  Father.  Half  of  humanity  has  never  heard 
the  good  news  of  Jesus'  way  of  life.  For  every  two 
thousand  Christians  in  America,  we  send  one  to  that 
half  of  humanity  while  one  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  stay  at  home.  As  truly  as  the 
Apostle  Paul  carried  the  life-giving  Gospel  to  the 
continent  of  our  savage  ancestors  in  Europe,  when 
he  responded  to  the  call  "Come  over  and  help  us," 
so  truly  may  we  carry  the  same  dynamic  of  a  new 
way  of  life  back  to  the  continent  of  Asia,  in  their 
unconscious  and  unuttered  need,  "Come  back  and 
help  us."  The  East  with  all  its  latent  worth  and 
passionate  possibilities  asks  the  return  of  the  gift 
of  life  which  they  gave  to  us.  They  too  are  facing 
the  crisis  of  the  new  world  situation. 

It  is  not  a  question  merely  of  sending  out  a  few 
missionaries.  We  must  humanize  and  Christianize 
our  entire  impact  upon  other  nations.  We  need,  as 
Basil  Mathews  says,  "the  sustained  labor  of  a  mani- 
fold moral  leadership,  rooted  in  spiritual  reality." 
"This  new  world  order  will  be  triumphantly  achieved 
only  through  the  free  enlistment  of  this  generation 
of  young  men  and  women  for  the  common  service 
of  the  civil  servant,  the  teacher,  and  the  missionary; 
the  artist,  the  doctor,  and  the  nurse;  the  soldier  and 
sailor,  the  social  worker,  the  lawyer,  the  engineer, 
the  planter,  the  priest,  and  the  prophet,  the  member 
of  Parliament,  the  parent,  and  the  merchant." 

There  are  special  needs  in  the  present  period  of 


IS  OUR  RELIGION  WORTH  EXPORTING?    157 

transition  in  the  world's  life.  Apart  from  certain 
primitive  pioneer  fields  hitherto  neglected  or  in- 
accessible, from  now  on  in  the  great  mission  fields  we 
need  quality  rather  than  quantity.  Only  carefully 
chosen  and  fully  qualified  men  and  women  should  go 
as  missionaries.  Only  those  should  be  sent  who  can 
really  represent  Christ  as  his  interpreters  and  ambas- 
sadors, who  can  bring  the  best  from  their  own  lands 
and  appreciate  the  best  in  the  countries  to  which 
they  go. 

Again,  we  should  go  not  so  much  to  be  leaders  as 
to  make  leaders,  not  to  assume  an  autocratic  con- 
trol of  mission  "agents"  but  to  develop  an  indig- 
enous leadership  in  friendly  cooperation  with  the 
people  and  to  count  our  mission  a  temporary  failure 
until  responsibility  for  the  work  is  first  shared  with 
and  then  transferred  to  them.  Autocracy  and  pater- 
nalism linger  long  in  political,  industrial  and  re- 
ligious life,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  If  we  follow 
Jesus'  way  we  must  believe  that  men  can  be  trusted, 
in  government,  in  industry  and  on  the  mission  field. 
The  people  themselves  possess  the  latent  capacity 
for  leadership  and  we  must  seek  rapidly  to  develop 
it. 

And  lastly,  let  us  remember  that  we  go  to  an 
awakening  modern  world,  which  is  facing  the  crisis 
of  national,  racial,  industrial  or  religious  upheaval. 
The  students  in  the  universities  of  Japan,  China  and 
India  are  studying  the  most  advanced  modern 
science  and  philosophy.  They  are  acquainted  not 
only  with  the  principles  of  evolution  and  historical 
criticism,  but  often  with  the  most  radical  literature 


158  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

also.  No  obsolete  medievalism  or  obscurantism 
or  appeal  to  the  authority  of  orthodoxy  will  avail. 
A  missionary  must  know  the  problems  of  the  mod- 
ern world  and  be  able  to  meet  them.  He  should 
have  not  only  an  individual  but  also  a  social  gospel 
to  meet  the  rapid  industrialization  of  Japan,  China 
and  India.  He  should  not  stand  helpless  without 
vision  or  message  or  remedy,  as  childhood,  woman- 
hood and  manhood  are  consumed  under  inhuman 
conditions  of  low  wages  and  long  hours  in  order  to 
produce  swollen  profits  and  fortunes  for  a  few  prof- 
iteers and  rivet  a  system  of  oppressive  capitalism 
upon  the  Orient  of  the  future.  For  weary  cen- 
turies to  come  these  lands  must  not  follow  the  dis- 
credited methods  of  Western  capitalism  and  indus- 
trialism. They  need  immediately  the  social  message 
of  Jesus  practically  applied  to  their  appalling  social 
and  industrial  conditions.  A  young  missionary  can- 
not do  this  if  he  has  only  been  trained  in  dead  lan- 
guages and  formal  orthodoxy  with  no  reference  to 
the  crying  social  needs  of  the  modern  world.  He 
must  have  a  whole  gospel  and  be  ready  to  apply  it 
to  the  whole  of  life  in  these  awakening  lands. 

The  contrast  of  the  awakened  modern  Orient  and 
the  medieval  Western  student  is  shown  in  a  letter 
written  by  the  great  Indian  poet,  Tagore.  A  young 
volunteer  from  a  Western  college  had  informed  the 
poet  of  his  momentous  decision  to  come  to  India, 
and  of  his  intention  to  be  "kind  to  the  natives." 
We  quote  it  not  as  agreeing  with  all  its  implications 
but  as  illustrating  the  attitude  of  leaders  in  Asia 
today  and  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  love  as  the 


IS  OUR  RELIGION  WORTH  EXPORTING?    159 

greatest  thing  in  the  world.  The  letter  shows  that 
they  are  facing  a  crisis  in  foreign  missions  as  well 
as  at  home. 

Dear  Mr. 


I  have  read  your  letter  with  pleasure.  I  have 
only  one  thing  to  say — it  is  this :  Do  not  be  always 
trying  to  preach  your  doctrine,  but  give  yourself  in 
love.  Your  Western  mind  is  too  much  obsessed 
with  the  idea  of  conquest  and  possession,  your  in- 
veterate habit  of  proselytism  is  another  form  of  it. 
Christ  never  preached  himself  or  any  dogma  or 
doctrine — he  preached  the  love  of  God.  The  ob- 
ject of  a  Christian  should  be  to  be  like  Christ — 
never  to  be  like  a  coolie-recruiter  trying  to  bring 
coolies  to  his  master's  tea-garden.  Preaching  your 
doctrine  is  no  sacrifice  at  all — it  is  indulging  in  a 
luxury,  far  more  dangerous  than  all  luxuries  of 
material  living.  It  breeds  an  illusion  in  your  mind 
that  you  are  doing  your  duty  .  .  .  that  you  are 
wiser  and  better  than  your  fellow  beings.  But  the 
real  preaching  is  in  being  perfect,  which  is  through 
meekness  and  love  and  self-dedication. 

If  you  have  in  you  your  pride  of  race,  pride  of 
sect  and  pride  of  personal  superiority  strong,  then 
it  is  no  use  to  try  to  do  good  to  others.  They  will 
reject  your  gift,  or  even  if  they  do  accept  it  they  will 
not  be  morally  benefited  by  it — instances  of  which 
can  be  seen  in  India  every  day.  On  the  spiritual 
plane  you  cannot  do  good  until  you  be  good.  You 
cannot  preach  the  Christianity  of  the  Christian  sect 
until  you  be  like  Christ;  and  then  you  do  not  preach 
Christianity  but  love  of  God  which  Christ  did. 

You  have  repeatedly  said  that  your  standard  of 
living  is  not  likely  to  be  different  from  that  of  the 
"natives" — but  one  thing  I  ask  you,  will  you  be  able 
to  make  yourself  one  with   those  whom  you   call 


160  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

"natives,"  not  merely  in  habits  but  in  love?  For  it 
is  utterly  degrading  to  accept  any  benefit  but  that 
which  is  offered  in  the  spirit  of  love.  God  is  love — 
and  all  that  we  receive  from  his  hands  blesses  us — 
but  when  a  man  tries  to  usurp  God's  place  and  as- 
sumes the  role  of  a  giver  of  gifts  and  does  not  come 
as  a  mere  purveyor  of  God's  love,  then  it  is  all 
vanity, 

tYours  faithfully, 

Rabindranath  Tagore. 


PART  II :    SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL 
QUESTIONS 

XII 
CHALLENGING  PROBLEMS 

What  are  the  outstanding  social  and  industrial 
problems  confronting  us  today? 

What  is  the  solution  of  our  race  problem,  es- 
pecially with  regard  to  the  twelve  million  Negroes 
in  America? 

In  our  international  relations,  what  should  be 
our  attitude  toward  war?  Is  war  ever  justifiable? 
How  can  we  put  an  end  to  it? 

What  should  be  our  attitude  toward  labor 
unions  and  to  labor  s  claim  to  the  right  of  col- 
lective bargaining? 

What  is  the  "Social  Gospel"  and  what  is  the 
social  function  of  the  church? 

What  is  the  Christian  solution  of  our  industrial, 
racial  and  international  problems? 

What  are  the  outstanding  social  and  industrial 
problems  confronting  us  in  facing  the  crisis  today? 

We  must  include  the  political  problem  of  selfish 
graft  on  the  one  hand  and  equally  selfish  profiteer- 
ing on  the  other;  our  acute  and  unsolved  race  prob- 
lem; our  serious  industrial  strife,  with  America  lead- 
ing the  world  in  the  number  of  strikes;  the  injustice 
of  vast  wealth  for  the  few  and  poverty  for  the  many; 
the  problem  of  the  open  shop  drive,  and  "the  denial 

161 


162  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

of  the  right  and  opportunity  to  form  effective  or- 
ganizations" on  the  part  of  labor;  the  twelve-hour 
day  and  the  seven-day  week  which  still  continue  in 
several  industries  in  this  country;1  the  labor  spy 
system  in  industry;  the  problem  of  freedom  of 
speech,  post-war  propaganda,  and  a  corrupt  press; 
and  international  problems  that  threaten  the  world 
with  war. 

We  have  seen  that  the  recent  war  left  the  world 
confronted  by  three  overwhelming  problems,  and 
rent  asunder  by  three  great  cleavages  of  humanity, 
in  national,  racial  and  class  or  industrial  strife.  This 
new  national,  racial  and  class  consciousness,  this  ris- 
ing spirit  of  democracy  with  the  demand  for  equal 
opportunity,  is  usually  resented  by  the  privileged 
nation,  race  or  class  in  power,  as  a  menace  to  their 
long  cherished  special  interests,  hence  the  present 
world-wide  unrest  and  strife. 

Vast  changes  are  sweeping  over  the  world.  The 
writer  stood  recently  at  the  Three  Emperors'  Cor- 
ner in  Upper  Silesia,  where  the  ancient  empires  of 
Russia,  Prussia  and  Austria  met,  and  where  the 
three  emperors  came  together  to  make  their  com- 
pact to  defeat  Napoleon.  What  a  change  has  taken 
place  there  today.     Where  now  are  these  dynasties 

1  Horace  B.  Drury — Taylor  Society  Bulletin,  February,  1921. 
See  also  "Three  Shifts  in  Steel,"  The  Survey,  March  5,  1921.  The 
Federated  American  Engineering  Societies  have  made  a  study  stat- 
ing that  there  are  40  to  50  industries  in  the  United  States  involv- 
ing a  certain  amount  of  continuous  operation.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  number  of  shift  workers  is  somewhere  between  500,000  and 
1,000,000.  The  number  of  men  on  12-hour  shifts  in  the  period 
preceding  the  depression  was  about  300,000.  One-half  of  this 
number  were  within  the  steel  industry. — Iron  Age,  Feb.  23,  1922,. 
p.  521. 


CHALLENGING  PROBLEMS  163 

and  empires?  The  Romanoffs,  the  Hapsburgs  and 
the  Hohenzollerns  that  ruled  most  of  the  continent 
of  Europe  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  have 
passed  away.  Russia,  Germany,  Austria  and  the 
surrounding  nations  have  become  republics,  and  free 
nations  are  gradually  rising  out  of  the  wreck  of  the 
old  autocracies.  Similar  changes  are  taking  place 
throughout  the  world. 

We  are  standing  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  creative 
epoch  in  history.  We  are  already  in  the  midst  of 
one  of  the  great  migrations  of  the  human  spirit.  The 
tides  of  democracy  are  sweeping  around  the  world. 
We  are  indeed  facing  a  crisis.  Great  as  was  the 
political  change  wrought  in  France  by  the  French 
Revolution,  greater  still  will  be  the  change  for  the 
world  in  this  new  era,  political,  social  and  industrial. 
The  old  world  of  special  privilege  for  the  few, 
whether  of  autocracy,  aristocracy  or  plutocracy  is 
doomed.  We  have  seen  that  there  is  an  old  order 
of  materialism  and  of  selfish  privilege  supported 
by  the  competitive  and  coercive  force  of  militarism, 
with  chronic  latent  strife  breaking  out  periodically 
into  overt  war.  This  old  order  is  weighed  in  the 
balances  and  found  wanting.  But  a  new  social  order, 
which  a  Galilean  carpenter  called  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  is  coming.  As  General  Smuts  said:  "The 
old  order  is  dying  all  about  us.  It  must  also  die 
within  us." 

We  have  seen  that  there  were  three  great  social 
problems  in  the  world  today,  national,  racial  and 
industrial.  These  are  the  three  crucial  issues  in 
America  also.     Politically,   in  our  city,   state   and 


164  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

national  governments,  we  are  facing  the  two-fold 
danger  of  selfish  bribery  and  corruption  on  the  one 
hand  and  of  selfish  profiteering  on  the  other.  A 
leading  social  worker  in  New  York  said  after  a  re- 
cent election  when  the  party  of  "good  government" 
was  defeated,  "I  would  rather  vote  for  Tammany 
Hall  with  its  known  vice  and  crime,  bribery  and  cor- 
ruption, than  for  your  so-called  party  of  good  gov- 
ernment which  is  often  controlled  by  the  selfish  prof- 
iteering of  the  money  power  that  would  sell  out 
the  franchises  and  exploit  the  people  quite  as  read- 
ily and  far  more  successfully  than  Tammany  Hall." 


XIII 

THE  RACE  PROBLEM 

What  is  the  solution  of  our  race  problem,  es- 
pecially with  regard  to  our  relation  to  the  twelve 
million  Negroes  in  America? 

Approximately  one-third  of  the  world's  popula- 
tion is  white,  nearly  a  third  is  yellow  and  a  little 
more  than  a  third  black  or  brown.  Thus  two- 
thirds  of  mankind  are  colored.  Does  not  this  imply 
that  if  we  believe  in  humanity,  as  such,  we  must 
believe  in  colored  people,  for  they  form  the  ma- 
jority of  mankind? 

We  are  especially  concerned,  however,  with  the 
immigrant  landing  upon  our  shores  x  and  with  the 
twelve  million  Negroes  in  America  whose  ances- 
tors were  dragged  here  in  slavery  during  part  of 
the  four  centuries  that  so-called  "Christian"  nations 
ravaged  Africa.  We  must  face  the  problem  in  view 
of  the  stubborn  fact  of  race  prejudice.  Mr.  H.  G. 
Wells  says:  "I  am  convinced  myself  that  there  is 
no  more  evil  thing  in  this  present  world  than  race 
prejudice ;  none  at  all !  I  write  deliberately — it  is 
the  worst  single  thing  in  life  now.  It  justifies  and 
holds  together  more  baseness,  cruelty  and  abomina- 

1  In  Greater  New  York  35.46  per  cent  of  the  population  are 
foreign  born ;  while  76.42  per  cent  are  either  foreign  born  or  the 
children  of  foreign  born;  approximately  one  in  four  is  a  Hebrew. 

165 


166  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

tion  than  any  other  sort  of  error  in  the  world." 
Lord  Bryce  in  his  "Race  Sentiment  as  a  Factor  in 
History"  shows  "that  down  till  the  days  of  the 
French  Revolution  there  has  been  very  little  in  any 
country,  or  at  any  time,  of  self-conscious  racial  feel- 
ing. .  .  .  No  people  was  ever  prouder  than  the 
Romans  nor  with  better  reason,  yet  in  the  fullness 
of  their  strength  when  they  held  themselves  called 
by  fate  to  rule  the  world,  they  showed  little  con- 
tempt for  their  provincial  subjects  and  no  racial 
aversion." 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  past,  we  face  today 
in  America  an  almost  incalculable  and  unbelievable 
race  prejudice  that  often  shows  itself  in  lawlessness 
and  mob  violence.  Ex-President  Taft  in  an  address 
before  the  Civic  Forum  in  New  York  in  1908  de- 
clared that  there  had  been  in  America,  between  1885 
and  1908,  only  2286  legal  executions,  while  during 
the  same  period  there  had  been  131,951  cases  of 
murder  and  homicide.  Although  there  has  been  a 
slight  improvement  in  recent  years,  since  1885  we 
have  put  to  death  up  to  the  present  time  over  4000 
by  lynching  and  mob  violence,  an  average  of  two 
every  week  or  more  than  one  hundred  every  year 
for  the  last  thirty-seven  years.  Nor  can  this  be 
considered  a  sectional  matter  as  only  five  states  in 
the  union  have  clean  hands  with  regard  to  lynching. 
No  other  nation  in  the  world  has  such  a  disgraceful 
record.  Lynching  is  never  practiced  in  Europe.  It 
is  unknown  in  South  America,  and  during  more  than 
twenty-five  years  the  writer  has  never  known  of  a 
single  case  in  Asia  in  the  countries  where  he  has 


THE  RACE  PROBLEM  167 

worked,  in  India,  China  or  Japan.  Even  a  Turkish 
Ambassador  became  persona  non  grata  to  our  gov- 
ernment for  calling  attention  to  the  moral  incon- 
sistency of  the  United  States  in  denouncing  the  out- 
rages perpetrated  by  the  Turks  on  the  Armenians 
while  such  outrages  are  habitual  in  America  under 
our  system  of  lynching. 

America  is  held  up  to  scorn  in  the  press  both  of 
Europe  and  Asia  as  the  one  country  that  condones 
this  barbarous,  inhuman  and  unchristian  practice. 
This  is  a  serious  hindrance  to  the  work  of  Christian 
missions  in  China,  India  and  other  lands.  It  is  con- 
stantly thrown  in  the  teeth  of  our  missionaries.  Our 
country  cannot  remain  half  lawless  and  half  law  abid- 
ing any  more  than  half  slave  and  half  free.  If 
respect  for  law  is  habitually  broken  down  by  the 
practice  of  lynching,  it  inevitably  undermines  our 
moral  fibre.  Every  time  a  Negro  is  lynched  or 
burned  at  the  stake  the  public  participates  through 
the  press.  A  minister  of  the  Southern  Methodist 
Church  recently  said  that  in  some  districts  all  the 
cases  of  mob  violence  were  Methodist  or  Baptist 
lynchings,  the  majority  of  the  mob  being  Protestant 
church  members.  A  Presbyterian  elder  called  this 
minister  aside  and  said  that  they  had  settled  the 
race  problem  in  their  district.  Fie  said,  "every  little 
while  we  just  take  out  a  few  niggers  and  lynch  them." 
This  would  be  unthinkable  and  unbelievable  in  any 
country  but  America.  How  long  is  this  blot  to  con- 
tinue in  our  national  life?  It  will  continue  as  long 
as  we  make  an  idle  or  hollow  profession  of  religion 
and  refuse  to  apply  our  Christianity  to  our  treat- 


168  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

ment  of  other  races,  classes  and  nations  in  the  prac- 
tice of  brotherhood. 

We  are  glad  to  note  that  the  leading  women  in 
the  churches  of  Georgia  and  other  states  in  the 
Inter-Racial  Committees  have  spoken  out  against 
this  disgraceful  practice.1  Governor  Dorsey  of 
Georgia  in  the  pamphlet  publishing  his  address  of 
April  22,  1 92 1,  protested  against  the  four  wrongs  to 
which  the  Negro  is  subjected  in  his  state,  namely 
lynching,  peonage,  driving  the  Negro  out  by  organ- 
ized lawlessness,  especially  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan, 
and  subjecting  him  to  acts  of  cruelty  and  injustice. 

We  are  glad  to  note  that  a  new  conscience  is  be- 
ing created  and  that  invaluable  work  has  been  done 
by  the  Inter-Racial  Committees  which  have  now 
been  organized  in  more  than  six  hundred  of  the 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-nine  counties  where  Negroes 
are  found  in  large  numbers.  We  are  facing  a  new 
world  since  the  war.  A  new  spirit  is  abroad.  Quite 
apart  from  America,  there  is  a  new  race  conscious- 
ness observable  over  most  of  the  world.  Every 
race  is  demanding  its  equal  and  rightful  place  in  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  This  spirit  is  spreading  across 
Asia.  It  is  permeating  Africa.  The  awakening 
aspirations  of  the  two-thirds  of  humanity  that  are 
colored  people  can  be  realized  if  we  read  carefully 

"'We  find  in  our  hearts  no  extenuation  for  crime,  be  it  viola- 
tion of  womanhood,  mob-violence,  or  the  illegal  taking  of  human 
life.  We  are  convinced  that  if  there  is  any  crime  more  dangerous 
than  another,  it  is  that  which  strikes  at  the  root  of  and  under- 
mines constituted  authority,  breaks  all  laws  and  restraints  of 
civilization,  substitutes  mob-violence  and  masked  irresponsibility 
for  established  justice,  and  deprives  society  of  a  sense  of  pro- 
tection against  barbarism." 


THE  RACE  PROBLEM  169 

the  statement  made  at  the  Pan-African  Conference 
in  London : * 

For  a  solution  of  the  race  problem  we  can  only 
turn  to  a  real  application  of  the  principles  of  Jesus 
to  all  men  alike,  in  the  recognition  of  the  infinite 
worth  of  every  man  before  God,  whether  white  or 
black,  brown  or  yellow;  in  the  brotherhood  of  all 
men  before  God  as  Father,  and  in  the  law  of  love 
expressed  in  service  for  all. 

1  "The  absolute  equality  of  races,  physical,  political  and  social, 
is  the  founding  stone  of  World  Peace  and  human  advancement. 
No  one  denies  great  differences  of  gift,  capacity  and  attainment 
among  individuals  of  all  races,  but  the  voice  of  Science  and  Re- 
ligion and  practical  Politics  is  one  in  denying  the  God-appointed 
existence  of  super-races  or  of  races  naturally  and  inevitably  and 
eternally  inferior. 

"Of  all  the  various  criteria  by  which  masses  of  men  have  in 
the  past  been  judged  and  classified  that  of  the  color  of  the  skin 
and  texture  of  the  hair  is  surely  the  most  adventitious  and 
idiotic.  .  .  .  The  insidious  and  dishonorable  propaganda  which 
for  selfish  ends  so  distorts  and  denies  facts  as  to  represent  the 
advancement  and  development  of  certain  races  of  men  as  impos- 
sible and  undesirable  should  be  met  with  widespread  dissemina- 
tion of  the  truth.  .  .  . 

"The  demand  for  the  interpenetration  of  countries  and  inter- 
mingling of  blood  has  come  in  modern  days  from  the  white  race 
alone  and  has  been  imposed  on  brown  and  black  folks  mainly 
by  brute  force  and  fraud ;  and  on  top  of  that  the  resulting  people 
of  mixed  race  have  had  to  bear  innuendo,  persecution  and  insult; 
and  the  penetrated  countries  have  been  forced  into  semi-slavery. 
The  Suppressed  Races  through  their  thinking  intelligentsia  are 
demanding: 

i.  The  recognition  of  civilized  men  as  civilized  despite  their 
race   or  color. 

2.  Local  self-government  for  backward  groups,  deliberately  ris- 
ing as  experience  and  knowledge  grow  to  complete  self-govern- 
ment under  the  limitations  of  a  self-governed  world. 

3.  Education  in  self  knowledge,  in  scientific  truth  and  in  indus- 
trial  technique,   undivorced  from  the   art  of  beauty. 

4.  Freedom  in  their  own  religion  and  custom  and  with  the  right 
to   be   non-conformist   and   different. 

5.  Cooperation  with  the  rest  of  the  world  in  government,  in- 
dustry and  art  on  the  basis  of  justice,  freedom  and  peace. 

6.  The  ancient  common  ownership  of  the  land  and  its  natural 
fruits  and  defense  against  the  unrestrained  greed  of  invested 
capital." — Pan-African  Conference,  London,  1921. 


170  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

What  would  it  mean  to  apply  these  principles  in 
the  case  of  each  individual  in  the  Negro  race?  Let 
us  take  a  single  typical  case.  Here  was  a  little 
Negro  boy,  Booker  Washington.  Under  the  en- 
vironment of  slavery  he  was  virtually  denied  human 
rights.  But  the  boy  was  given  a  chance  of 
a  practical,  technical  education.  The  writer  stood 
recently  on  that  barren  hill  at  Tuskegee,  Alabama, 
where  on  Independence  Day,  July  4th,  1881,  in  a 
little  log  cabin  and  an  old  church  Booker  Washing- 
ton opened  his  school  with  thirty  pupils.  He  saw 
there  today  nearly  2000  students  being  trained  in 
more  than  a  score  of  useful  industries,  where  the 
pupils  "learn  by  doing,"  and  where  men  from  Ox- 
ford and  Cambridge  and  the  continent  of  Europe 
come  to  study  this  remarkable  system  of  educa- 
tion. 

The  writer  stood  before  the  grave  of  Booker 
Washington  beside  Professor  Carver,  the  great 
Negro  chemist.  Booker  Washington  found  him  as 
a  promising  boy  and  set  him  to  work  upon  that  bar- 
ren hill.  It  contained  nothing  but  sand  and  clay. 
Taking  that  sand,  Professor  Carver  has  developed 
some  eighty-five  chemical  and  commercial  products 
out  of  it:  from  the  clay  he  has  discovered  more  than 
two  hundred.  The  thin  soil  purchased  at  fifty  cents 
an  acre  would  produce  at  first  only  peanuts  and  sweet 
potatoes.  Out  of  the  former  Professor  Carver  has 
made  over  a  hundred  products,  and  from  the  sweet 
potato  one  hundred  and  twelve,  several  of  which 
have   great   commercial    and   financial   possibilities. 


THE  RACE  PROBLEM  171 

Booker  Washington  and  Professor  Carver  found 
more  on  that  old  barren  hill  bought  for 
half  a  dollar  an  acre,  than  others  had  ever 
dreamed. 

There  stands  today  the  great  model  farm  and  the 
splendid  institution  of  Tuskegee  with  its  plant  and 
endowment  worth  more  than  five  million  dollars. 
But  just  as  there  was  something  more  in  that  old 
barren  hill  than  men  had  ever  dreamed,  so  there 
were  undreamed  latent  possibilities  in  that  little  Ne- 
gro boy  Booker  Washington  and  that  young  stu- 
dent Carver,  and  in  every  Negro  boy  in  Tuskegee 
today  or  out  of  it.  Following  the  first  Negro  scien- 
tist, Benjamin  Banneker  of  Maryland,  who  in  1770 
constructed  the  first  clock  striking  the  hours  that  was 
made  in  America,  Professor  Carver  has  shown  some 
of  the  latent  capacities  of  his  race.  Already  in  spite 
of  their  unjust  and  terrific  handicaps,  more  than  one 
thousand  patents  have  been  granted  to  Negroes. 
Largely  as  the  result  of  their  own  efforts,  in  coop- 
eration with  Christian  white  men  who  really  believe 
in  brotherhood,  the  Negro  in  a  little  over  half  a 
century  since  his  release  from  slavery  has  made  re- 
markable progress.  He  has  increased  his  homes 
owned  from  12,000  to  650,000,  his  farms  operated 
from  20,000  to  1,000,000,  his  business  enterprises 
successfully  conducted  from  2000  to  165,000,  his 
literacy  from  10  per  cent  to  80  per  cent,  the  number 
of  teachers  from  600  to  43,000,  voluntary  gifts  for 
the  education  of  Negroes  from  $80,000  to  $2,700,- 
000,  his  churches  from  700  to  45,000,  and  the  value 


172  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

of  his  church  property  from  $1,500,000  to  $90,- 

OOOjOOO.1 

It  is  our  belief  that  only  as  we  persistently  apply 
and  practice  the  principles,  of  Jesus  mentioned 
above,  can  we  truly  face  the  crisis  of  the  race  prob- 
lem in  America  and  solve  it.2 

lDr.  Anson  Phelps  Stokes'  Hampton  Institute  Founders'  Day 
Address. 

aFor  further  information  upon  the  problem  of  race  relations  see 
"Present  Forces  in  Negro  Progress,"  Weatherford;  "The  Negro 
Faces  America,"  J.  Seligman;  "The  Souls  of  Black  Folk,"  Dr. 
W.  E.  B.  DuBois;  "A  Short  History  of  the  American  Negro," 
Benjamin  G.  Brawley;  "A  Social  History  of  the  American  Negro," 
Benjamin  G.  Brawley;  "The  Negro  in  Literature  and  Art," 
Benjamin  G.  Brawley;  "The  Trend  of  the  Races,"  George  E. 
Haynes,  Missionary  Education  Movement,  1922;  "Up  From  Slav- 
ery," Booker  T.  Washington;  "Finding  a  Way  Out,"  Major  R.  R. 
Moton;  "A  History  of  the  Negro  Church,"  Carter  G.  Woodson; 
"The  Basis  of  Ascendency,"  E.  G.  Murphy;  "Black  and  White," 
L.  H.  Hammond;  The  Journal  of  Negro  History,  a  quarterly,  1218 
U  Street,  Washington,  D.  C. 


XIV 

THE  ETHICS  OF  WAR 

In  our  international  relations  what  should  be 
our  attitude  to  war?  Is  war  ever  justifiable? 
Facing  the  crisis  in  our  international  affairs  how 
can  we  put  an  end  to  it? 

Christ  calls  his  followers  to  act  always  and  only 
from  the  motive  of  love,  or  indomitable  goodwill 
to  friend  and  "enemy"  alike.  But  this  very  motive 
constraining  us  to  seek  the  welfare  of  all  equally, 
would  seem  to  demand  that  the  criminal  and  maniac 
individual  or  nation  must  be  restrained,  both  in  the 
interests  of  society  and  of  themselves.  This  in- 
volves the  use  of  an  adequate  police  force.  I  believe 
in  the  use  of  force  only  up  to  the  point  where  moral 
suasion  becomes  operative.  The  organized  use  of 
force  by  the  community  will  be  necessitated  as  long 
as  its  indiscriminate  use  by  lawless  individuals  or 
nations  continues.  As  Admiral  Mahan  says:  "The 
function  of  force  is  to  give  moral  ideas  time  to 
work."  Ideally,  the  purpose  of  a  police  force  is 
not  to  destroy  but  to  protect;  it  is  not  punitive  but 
redemptive;  not  destructive  but  constructive;  not  for 
conquest  but  for  preservation.  It  differs  radi- 
cally from  an  army  of  conquest. 

Such  a  police  force  might  be  used  not  only  locally, 
but   nationally    and   internationally.      For   illustra- 

173 


174  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

tion,  if  trouble  arises  in  Mexico  and  lawlessness 
threatens  international  relationships,  the  right  solu- 
tion would  seem  to  be,  not  a  national  army  invading 
for  selfish  conquest,  nor  intervention  by  a  power- 
ful neighbor  at  the  instance  of  financial  interests, 
with  no  concern  for  the  men  sacrificed  in  the  invad- 
ing army  or  in  Mexico  itself,  but  an  international 
police  force  under  judicial  sanction,  to  restore  order 
for  the  welfare  both  of  the  people  of  Mexico  and 
of  the  world.  Or  again,  if  Villa  comes  across  the 
Mexican  Border  to  invade  America,  we  believe  he 
should  be  met  by  a  sufficient  police  force  to  restrain 
his  invading  army  and  protect  the  invaded  country. 
The  same  would  be  true  in  case  of  continued  mas- 
sacre of  Armenians  by  the  Turks.  But  the  action  of 
such  a  police  force  under  judicial  sanction  must  be 
distinguished  from  war. 

As  a  means  of  settling  international  differences,  I 
believe  that  modern  warfare  is  wrong,  for  the  fol- 
lowing reasons: 

i.  War  involves  the  inevitable  wholesale  destruc- 
tion of  human  life,  the  most  priceless  thing  in  the 
world.  Ten  millions  of  the  flower  of  the  world's 
youth  lie  buried  on  the  battlefields  of  Europe,  after 
the  gigantic  destruction  of  humanity  in  the  World 
War. 

2.  Modern  war  involves  the  inevitable  wholesale 
destruction  of  non-combatants  and  havoc  wrought 
upon  whole  populations.  It  is  not  professional  sol- 
diers but  whole  peoples  who  are  now  in  conflict. 
Thirty  million  non-combatants  have  already  been 
killed  by  those  five  camp-followers  of  the  war — 


THE  ETHICS  OF  WAR  175 

further  wars,  revolution,  hunger,  famine,  and  dis- 
ease. This  "war  that  was  to  end  war"  left  a  score 
of  smaller  ones  in  its  train.  The  habit  of  killing 
and  reliance  upon  force  led  on  to  revolution.  Hun- 
ger, under-nourishment,  and  widespread  infant  mor- 
tality have  carried  away  multitudes. 

Famine  also  follows  in  the  wake  of  war.  The 
Russian  famine,  aggravated  by  the  breakdown  of 
the  transport  and  the  lack  of  supplies  owing  to  the 
war,  has  caused  the  death  of  millions.  Disease 
stalks  behind  famine  and  war.  Typhus  swept  away 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  Poland  alone. 
Tuberculosis  has  multiplied.  Pneumonia,  influenza, 
and  other  war  scourges  have  swept  around  the 
world. 

3.  War  involves  enormous  material  loss,  the 
waste  and  destruction  of  wealth,  and  leaves  a  stag- 
gering burden  of  debt  upon  future  generations.  The 
direct  cost  of  the  Great  War  is  estimated  to  have 
been  186  billions  of  dollars,  or  seven  times  that  of 
all  wars  from  the  French  Revolution  to  the  present 
time  combined.  It  has  impoverished  the  world  and 
left  us  facing  a  financial  and  political  crisis.  The 
total  debts  of  the  world  were  multiplied  nearly  ten- 
fold. War  not  only  leaves  a  burden  of  debt  for  the 
past,  but  mortgages  the  future  in  the  ever-increasing 
race  for  armaments. 

4.  War  inevitably  engenders  hatred,  cruelty,  re- 
prisals, atrocities  and  counter-atrocities  on  both 
sides.  We  have  called  forth  the  demon  of  hate,  but 
we  cannot  now  exorcise  and  expel  it.  A  campaign  to 
create  fear,  appealing  to  race  and  national  pride, 


176  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

calls  out  the  worst  traits  of  human  nature.  This 
hatred,  suspicion  and  division  does  not  cease  with 
the  war.  It  has  led  almost  to  the  economic  break- 
down of  Europe  and  much  of  the  world.  The  war 
well-nigh  shattered  the  cooperative  processes  upon 
which  modern  civilization  depends.  And  war  is  be- 
coming ever  more  destructive  and  barbarous.1 
Worse  than  the  material  destruction  was  the  moral 
deterioration  that  followed  the  war.  A  moral 
slump,  a  tide  of  materialism,  of  "neopaganism,"  of 
cynicism  and  of  crime  came  in  its  wake.  The  world 
is  on  a  lower  moral  plane  since  the  war.  Added  to 
this  is  the  fact  that  war  is  well-nigh  futile  as  a  means 
of  solving  problems.  At  best  it  sows  dragons'  teeth, 
raising  new  problems  for  every  one  that  it  settles. 
5.  The  propaganda  of  modern  warfare  inevi- 
tably victimizes  the  people  on  both  sides,  leads  to 
loss  of  truth  and  to  the  demoralization  of  both  vic- 
tor and  vanquished  alike.  In  order  to  arouse  whole 
masses  of  the  people  to  the  fury  of  going  out  and 
killing  millions  of  their  fellowmen,  every  generous 

1The  reality  of  war  is  thus  pictured  by  a  young  officer:  "It  is 
hideously  exasperating  to  hear  people  talking  the  glib  common- 
places about  the  war  and  distributing  cheap  sympathy  to  its  vic- 
tims. Perhaps  you  are  tempted  to  give  them  a  picture  of  a 
leprous  earth,  scattered  with  the  swollen  and  blackening  corpses 
of  hundreds  of  young  men.  The  appalling  stench  of  rotting 
carrion,  mingled  with  the  sickening  smell  of  exploded  lyddite  and 
ammonal.  Mud  like  porridge,  trenches  like  shallow  and  sloping 
cracks  in  the  porridge — porridge  that  stinks  in  the  sun.  Swarms 
of  flies  and  blue-bottles  clustering  on  pits  of  offal.  Wounded  men 
lying  in  the  shell  holes  among  the  decaying  corpses,  helpless 
under  the  scorching  sun  and  bitter  nights,  under  repeated  shelling. 
Men  with  bowels  dropping  out,  lungs  shot  away,  with  blinded, 
smashed  faces,  or  limbs  blown  into  space.  Men  screaming  and 
gibbering.  Wounded  men  hanging  in  agony  on  the  barbed  wire 
until  a  friendly  spout  of  liquid  fire  shrivels  them  up  like  a  fly 
in    the    candle." 


THE  ETHICS  OF  WAR  177 

trait  or  favorable  fact  about  the  foe  must  be  sup- 
pressed. We  must  be  told  an  unbroken  stream  of 
enemy  atrocities;  every  unfavorable  fact  about  our- 
selves and  our  allies  must  be  silenced.  We  do  not 
desire  to  minimize  the  terrible  responsibility  of 
Prussian  militarism  for  all  its  atrocities,  yet  we 
maintain  that  if  we  are  told  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  the  common  people 
will  never  go  out  to  murder  each  other.  For  illus- 
tration, we  lashed  ourselves  to  fury  by  telling  each 
other  that  "the  Huns  are  baby-killers."  We  told 
ourselves  that  we  would  never  do  that.  Our  bombs 
dropped  on  civil  populations  would  never  kill  babies. 
Our  gas  would  never  harm  women  and  children.  Our 
hunger  blockade  would  never  touch  a  child.  Yet 
what  were  the  facts?  Our  successful  Allied  hunger 
blockade  was  killing  a  hundred  thousand  women  and 
children  and  old  men  a  year  in  Germany  alone.  Our 
hunger  blockade  killed  many  times  more  babies  than 
all  the  cruelties  in  Belgium,  and  all  the  victims  of 
the  submarine. 

6.  Modern  warfare  is  inhuman  and  unchristian. 
Jesus  taught  a  new  way  of  life  founded  upon  the 
law  of  love.  He  calls  us  all  to  follow  this  way. 
He  does  not  bid  us  do  the  things  he  would  not  do 
himself.  In  the  light  of  his  teaching  a  generation 
ago  we  challenged  slavery  and  abolished  it.  The 
time  has  come  for  us  to  outlaw  and  abolish  war, 
just  as  we  did  the  holding  of  slaves,  the  fighting  of 
duels,  the  torture  of  heretics,  the  burning  of  witches 
and  a  score  of  other  superstitions  and  evils  from 
which  we  have  been  emancipated. 


178  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

Whether  we  are  pacifists  or  not  there  is  need  of 
a  Christian  conscience  and  a  common  mind  for  the 
abolition  of  war.  How  long  is  the  church  to  con- 
demn war  in  general  and  then  advocate  each  war 
in  particular?  Are  our  churches  again  to  be  stam- 
peded and  turned  into  recruiting  stations?  The 
time  has  come  for  the  Christians  of  all  nations  to 
say  "No  more  war."  For,  as  General  Bliss  says,  "If 
another  war  like  the  last  one  should  come,  the  pro- 
fessing Christians  will  be  responsible  for  every  drop 
of  blood  that  will  be  shed."  x 

Ten  millions  killed,  thirty  millions  of  non-com- 
batants slain,  a  decreased  birth  rate  of  forty  millions 
more,  the  world  impoverished  by  debt,  staggering 
under  an  impossible  load  of  armaments,  demoralized 
by  falsehood  and  propaganda,  degraded  by  hatred, 
and  drifting  again  toward  war!  Are  we  to  destroy 
war,  or  let  it  destroy  us  ?  Are  we  courageously  fac- 
ing the  crisis  in  the  world  today  with  regard  to  the 
ethics  of  war?  As  Emerson  well  said,  "Now  is 
the  nick  of  time  in  matters  that  reach  into  eternity." 

1  Mr.  Lecky  tells  us  that  "Not  only  has  ecclesiastical  influence 
had  no  appreciable  influence  in  diminishing  the  number  of  wars, 
but  that  it  has  actually  and  very  seriously  increased  it.  With  the 
exception  of  Mohammedanism,  no  other  religion  has  done  so 
much  to  produce  war  as  was  done  by  the  religious  teachers  of 
Christendom  during  several  centuries."  Quoted  from  "The  Sword 
and  the  Cross,"  by  Kirby  Page,  which  see  for  "An  Examination 
of  War  in  the  Light  of  Jesus'  Way  of  Life." 


XV 

INDUSTRIAL  UNREST 

What  are  the  causes  of  the  present  industrial 
unrest  and  what  is  the  cure? 

The  writer  found  industrial  unrest  in  almost 
every  country  that  he  visited  since  the  war,  but  he 
returned  to  America  to  find  over  three  thousand 
strikes  a  year  for  the  last  five  years,  some  five  times 
as  many  as  in  Great  Britain  and  far  more  than  in 
any  other  country  in  the  world.  When  we  inquire 
as  to  the  reason  for  this  world-wide  discontent,  Mr. 
G.  D.  H.  Cole  of  Oxford  states  that  in  Great  Brit- 
ain there  are  three  underlying  causes:  insecurity  of 
employment,  growing  discontent  to  work,  for  the 
private  profit  and  luxury  of  the  few  rather  than  for 
the  service  and  need  of  the  many,  and  labor's  re- 
sentment at  the  autocratic  control  of  industry.  The 
employee  is  too  often  treated  as  a  commodity,  re- 
ceiving orders  from  an  employer  who  controls  him 
but  gives  him  no  voice  in  determining  the  conditions 
of  his  working  life. 

If  we  ask  the  cause  of  unrest  in  our  own  country, 
we  may  turn  for  an  official  answer  to  the  Final  Re- 
port of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations, 
where  the  causes  of  industrial  strife  are  thus  stated: 
"The  sources  from  which  this  unrest  springs  group 

179 


180  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

themselves  almost   without    exception   under    four 
main  sources  which  include  all  the  others: 
i.  Unjust  distribution  of  wealth  and  income. 

2.  Unemployment  and  denial  of  an  opportunity 
to  earn  a  living. 

3.  Denial  of  justice  in  the  creation,  adjudication 
and  in  the  administration  of  law. 

4.  Denial  of  the  right  and  opportunity  to  form 
effective  organizations."  * 

If  these  truly  represent  the  attitude  of  labor  we 
are  indeed  facing  a  crisis  in  our  industrial  life.  Grow- 
ing out  of  the  last  mentioned  cause,  or  the  denial 
of  labor's  right  to  form  effective  organizations,  we 
find  the  menace  of  the  labor  spy  system,  stretching 
out  its  slimy  octopus  tentacles  through  much  of 
American  industry.  The  second  volume  of  the  In- 
ter-church Report,  "Public  Opinion  and  the  Steel 
Strike,"  speaks  of  the  "widespread  systems  of  es- 
pionage as  an  integral  part  of  the  antiunion  policy 
of  great  industrial  corporations."  In  its  investiga- 
tion the  Commision  found  "war  periodically  overt, 
generally  chronic  in  the  steel  industry."  In  one 
typical  company  which  they  investigated  they  found 
in  the  files  some  six  hundred  reports  by  labor  spies 
together  with  black  lists  of  union  men,  contracts  with 
labor  detective  agencies,  and  a  whole  elaborate  spy 
system  for  preventing  union  men  from  working  in 
their  employ.  Dr.  Richard  C.  Cabot,  Professor  of 
Social  Ethics  at  Harvard,  shows  that  this  spy  sys- 
tem promotes  perpetual  suspicion  among  the  work- 
ing men  and  "a  very  widespread  human  tendency 

1  Reprint  from  Senate  Document  415,  p.  30. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  181 

to  go  back  to  barbaric  methods  of  deception  and 
treachery  and  to  break  down  the  distinction  between 
war,  which  we  know  is  hell,  and  peace,  which  we 
have  supposed  to  be  something  different." 

This  system  of  industrial  espionage  was  long  ago 
abandoned  in  Great  Britain  in  favor  of  more  en- 
lightened methods  though  it  was  practiced  there  a 
century  ago.  Hammond  in  the  "Town  Laborer" 
shows  that  between  1800  and  1820  in  England  "the 
use  of  spies  was  common  in  all  times  of  upper  class 
panic."  * 

What  we  need  in  America  in  facing  the  crisis 
of  the  present  is  the  establishment  of  a  recognized 
constitutionalism  in  industry,  not  a  warfare  with  in- 
dustrial spies  but  a  frank  recognition  of  the  equal 
right  to  organize  on  the  part  of  employer  and  em- 
ployee alike.  Thus  in  the  clothing  industry,  in  the 
successful  operation  of  the  agreement  with  the  Amal- 
gamated, instead  of  the  old  system  of  war  and  spies, 
there  is  a  written  constitution  providing  for  execu- 
tive, legislative  and  judicial  functions,  fulfilled  in 
mutual  good  will  for  the  common  benefit  of  the  em- 
ployers, the  employees  and  the  community. 

Let  us  now  consider,  however,  the  first  and  last 
of  the  four  causes  of  industrial  unrest  which  are 
the  most  serious.  The  first  is  the  unequal  distribu- 
tion of  wealth  and  income  in  the  United  States. 

luThe  Town  Laborer,"  p.  258. 


XVI 

WEALTH  AND  POVERTY 

Is  the  present  inequality  just,  with  its  vast  con- 
centration of  wealth  and  power  at  one  end  of  the 
scale  and  of  poverty  and  helplessness  at  the  otherf 

Are  we  not  witnessing  in  America  the  most  rapid 
and  dangerous  concentration  of  wealth  in  the  hands 
of  a  few,  and  of  the  power  of  control  over  other 
lives  which  wealth  brings,  that  history  has  ever 
known?  Professor  Sims  states  that  a  hundred  and 
eighty  men  possess  one-quarter  of  the  wealth  of 
America.1  One  corporation  monopolizes  a  large 
part  of  the  steel  production  and  of  the  lake  ores  of 
America.  Another  has  control  of  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  illuminating  oil.  Three  companies  own 
most  of  the  telegraph  and  telephone  lines.  Five 
packers  have  controlled  a  large  proportion  of  the 
meat  industry.  Eight  railway  groups  control  two- 
thirds  of  the  mileage  of  our  railroads,  while  twenty- 
five  men  link  together  99  railway  companies,  operat- 
ing 211,280  miles  or  82  per  cent  of  the  country's 
steam  transportation  system.2     Two  hundred  men 

1  Newell  L.  Sims,  "Ultimate  Democracy,"  p.  52. 

3  Congressional  Record,  March  14,  1921,  Vol.  60,  No.  80,  p. 
4780-89.  According  to  the  Congressional  Record,  out  of  600,000 
stockholders  in  the  first  class  railways,  the  majority  of  the  stock 
is  held  by  less  than  20  of  the  big  stockholders  of  each  road.  Less 
than  1.3  per  cent  of  the  stockholders  of  class  1  roads  control  the 
stock.     However  "the  real  power  which  today  controls  the  rail- 

1S2 


WEALTH  AND  POVERTY  183 

have  most  of  the  privately  owned  timber  of  Amer- 
ica, while  three  companies  control  a  large  part 
of  this  timber.1  Thirteen  water  companies  are  said 
to  control  about  a  third  of  the  developed  water 
power  of  America.2  And  so  we  may  go  through  the 
long  list  of  corporations  and  monopolies.  Mr.  H. 
H.  Klein  in  his  "Dynastic  America"  gives  the  names 
of  about  one  hundred  families  who  now  control  the 
railways  and  the  fourteen  basic  industries  of  the 
country.  The  future  welfare  of  the  world  will  be 
determined  by  the  contest  for  power.  The  power 
of  the  vote  is  in  the  hands  of  the  many,  while  the 
power  of  capital  is  in  the  hands  of  the  few  and  the 
incongruity  constantly  grows  greater.  Are  we  cou- 
rageously facing  the  crisis  occasioned  by  these  condi- 
tions or  drifting  blindly  into  the  future  unmindful 
of  the  lesson  of  history? 

According  to  Professor  W.  I.  King  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin,  approximately  two  per  cent 
of  the  people  possess  some  sixty  per  cent  of  the 
wealth  of  the  United  States,  while  at  the  bottom 
of  the  scale  sixty-five  per  cent,  or  the  majority  of 
the  people,  possess  only  five  per  cent  of  the  wealth, 
i.  e.,  two  million  people  possess  more  than  the  re- 
maining one  hundred  and  more  millions  all  com- 
bined.3 Some  have  the  share  of  a  thousand,  some 
of  a  million,  and  some  of  more  than  two  millions  of 

roads  of  the  United  States  is  the  group  of  a  dozen  financial  insti- 
tutions which  make  up  the  New  York  banking  combine.  Members 
of  the  Boards  of  Directors  of  these  banks  control  270  directorships 
of  93  class  1  railroads." 

1  C.  R.  Van  Hise,  "Concentration  and  Control,"  p.  156. 

'Ibid.,  p.  160. 

•"Wealth  and  Income,"  pp.  80,  82. 


184  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

the  less  favored.  Of  the  .national  income  approxi- 
mately forty-six  per  cent  goes  to  wages  and  fifty- 
three  per  cent  to  profit,  interest,  and  rent.  Justice 
Brandeis  reminds  us  that  the  Pujo  Commission  of 
Congress  found  that  one  great  financial  group  was 
controlling  341  directorates  on  112  corporations, 
with  a  capital  of  some  $22, 000,000,000. x  That 
would  be  twice  the  value  of  the  property  of  the  thir- 
teen southern  states  all  combined,  and  more  than  the 
value  of  the  property  of  the  twenty-two  states  west 
of  the  Mississippi.  On  the  other  hand  only  fifteen 
per  cent  of  the  people  own  any  securities  whatever 
in  America.  Only  about  three  per  cent  own  enough 
to  pay  any  income  tax.  Less  than  a  million  and  a 
half  pay  an  income  tax  on  $3000  or  more  annu- 
ally.2 

Turn  now  from  this  vast  concentration  of  wealth 
in  the  hands  of  a  few,  to  the  poverty  of  the  many 
at  the  other  end  of  the  scale.  Over  seven  hundred 
thousand  are  injured  in  industry  in  America  every 
year,  much  of  which  is  preventable.3  Some  two  mil- 
lions are  unemployed  from  four  to  six  months  of 
each  year.  Ten  millions  or  one-fourth  of  our  popu- 
lation are  in  poverty  in  normal  times.4  Ten  mil- 
lions who  are  now  living  will  die  prematurely  of 
preventable  diseases  at  the  present  death  rate,  and 
the  death  rate  of  the  poor  is  three  times  as  great 

1  Quoted  in  L.  D.  Edie  current  "Social  and  Industrial  Forces,"  p. 

125- 

The  number  in  1918  was  1,411,298. — See  U.  S.  Internal  Revenue 

— Statistics  of  Income,  Preliminary  Report. 

s  "Final  Report  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,"  pp.  24"37- 
4  See  the  estimates  of  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  Robert  Hunter, 

Prof.  Parmelee,  and  J.  S.  Penman. 


WEALTH  AND  POVERTY  185 

as  that  of  the  well-to-do.1  It  is  estimated  that 
there  are  1,750,000  children  at  work  who  ought  to 
be  in  school.  One-third  of  the  mothers  of  labor  are 
forced  to  toil  to  help  support  the  family.  In  the 
sphere  of  education  only  one  boy  in  three  is  able  to 
graduate  from  a  grammar  school,  one  in  ten  from 
high  school,  and  one  in  a  thousand  from  a  first- 
class  university.2  In  the  religious  sphere  26,000,000 
youths  are  growing  up  without  religious  education 
in  the  home,  in  the  Sunday  School,  or  in  the  Church; 
and  56,000,000  persons  are  outside  all  the  churches, 
Catholic  or  Protestant. 

As  in  Britain  and  Europe,  so  in  America,  approxi- 
mately one-tenth  of  the  people  possess  almost  nine- 
tenths  of  the  wealth,  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  scale 
nine-tenths  of  the  population  possess  the  remaining 
one-tenth.  The  vast  majority  are  born  without  land, 
without  a  home  of  their  own,  without  tools,  or  means 
of  livelihood,  save  as  they  depend  without  security 
upon  casual  employment  at  the  mercy  of  our  present 
unequal  and  unjust  industrial  system.  During  the 
last  twenty-five  years  the  large  estates  of  over  a 
thousand  acres  have  increased  from  thirty  thousand 
to  more  than  fifty  thousand  in  number,  while  the 
number  of  tenant  farmers  is  steadily  increasing.  As 
the  Roman  historian  wrote,  uThe  great  estates  have 
ruined  Rome."  Is  it  any  wonder  that  such  condi- 
tions are  a  cause  of  industrial  unrest?3     Are  we  to 

1  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  pp.  24-37. 

"Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  p.  23. 

'Think  of  the  responsibility  of  growing  rich  in  a  poor  world. 
The  inequality  in  America  is  shown  in  "Income  in  the  United 
States"  by  the  National  Bureau  of  Economic  Research.  Twenty- 
one  million  families  dividing  the  available  income  of  the  country 


186  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

accept  them  as  inevitable  or  permanent?  Are  we 
facing  the  crisis? 

Let  us  next  consider  the  final  cause  of  industrial 
unrest,  the  "denial  of  the  right  and  opportunity  to 
form  effective  organizations." 

would  average  $2,330  each.  But  in  actual  fact  152  persons  have 
an  income  of  over  $1,000,000;  369  persons  an  income  of  from 
$500,000  to  $1,000,000;  1976  from  $200,000  to  $500,000;  4,945  from 
$100,000  to  $200,000;  and  a  total  of  254,000  of  the  rich  with 
incomes  of  $10,000  to  over  $1,000,000,  receive  nearly  seven  billion 
dollars  of  the  national  income.  Only  842,000,  or  3  per  cent, 
receive  over  $5,000  a  year;  five  millions,  or  14  per  cent,  receive 
over  $2,000;  twenty-seven  millions,  or  72  per  cent  of  the  workers, 
receive  less  than  $1,500,  and  fourteen  million  persons,  or  38  per 
cent,  receive  less  than  $1,000  a  year.  To  prevent  such  unjust 
distribution  of  wealth  the  Italian  economist  Rignano,  after  allow- 
ing a  reasonable  limit  for  private  fortunes,  proposes  to  make  the 
State  co-heir  with  all  private  beneficiaries.  Upon  the  first  descent 
the  State  would  take  a  third,  from  the  second  generation  two-thirds 
and  from  the  third  descent  the  remainder  above  the  fixed  limit. 


XVII 

COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING 

What  should  be  our  attitude  toward  labor 
unions  and  to  labor  s  claim  to  the  right  of  col- 
lective bargaining? 

By  collective  bargaining  we  mean  the  right  of 
labor  to  organize  for  its  own  protection  and  welfare 
and  to  choose  its  own  representatives  for  industrial 
conference  without  restriction.  This  implies  the 
right  to  organize  labor  unions  whose  representatives 
shall  be  recognized  by  employers.  Is  this  claim  on 
the  part  of  the  workers  just?  Are  we  facing  the 
crisis  in  the  world  of  labor  today? 

For  more  than  five  thousand  years  man  has  been 
struggling  upward  toward  freedom.  The  liberty 
of  Greece  and  of  the  young  republic  of  Rome  was 
gained  by  collective  action.  The  Magna  Carta  of 
Anglo-Saxon  liberties  was  wrested  from  autocracy 
by  collective  bargaining  at  Runnymede.  The  free- 
dom of  the  American  Colonies  and  of  the  Republic 
of  France  in  the  French  Revolution  was  won  by 
united  action  under  their  own  chosen  representatives. 
Indeed,  history  as  a  whole  shows  that  each  nation 
and  each  class  has  had  to  win  its  own  liberties  and 
rights  by  collective  action.  They  have  not  been 
gratuitously  granted  by  the  privileged  party  in 
power. 

187 


188  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

In  the  industrial  sphere  the  method  of  advance 
has  been  the  same.  The  working  class  has  slowly 
risen  through  long  centuries  of  struggle.  Under 
the  institution  of  slavery  the  worker  was  often  the 
property  of  the  employer.  Under  serfdom  he  was 
sold  with  the  land.  With  the  introduction  of  the 
factory  system,  the  laborer's  condition  was  still  piti- 
able. He  was  forced  to  toil  twelve  and  even  fifteen 
hours  a  day  on  low  wages,  while  multitudes  of 
women  and  children  were  working  in  dark  mines  and 
unsanitary  factories.  The  working  class  was  denied 
the  right  of  suffrage  politically  and  of  organizing 
industrially.  Labor  unions  were  long  prohibited 
and  labor  as  a  commodity  was  at  the  mercy  of  the 
employer. 

Though  their  political  liberty  dates  from  the 
Magna  Carta  in  the  eleventh  century,  for  the  last 
two  hundred  and  seventy  years  labor  in  Great  Brit- 
ain has  been  struggling  toward  industrial  freedom 
and  democracy.  Over  a  hundred  years  ago  the  em- 
ployers of  England  tried  to  destroy  trade  unions. 
Under  the  Combination  Acts  of  1800,  working  men 
who  attended  any  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  short- 
ening their  long  hours  or  raising  their  scanty  wages 
could  be  imprisoned.1 

In  England,  Germany  and  over  most  of  the  con- 

*In  1786,  shortly  after  the  American  War  of  Independence,  five 
London  bookbinders  were  sentenced  to  two  years  in  prison  for 
refusing  to  work  a  twelve-hour  day  and  leading  a  strike  to  reduce 
their  hours  from  twelve  to  eleven.  In  1834.  five  laborers  of  Dor- 
chester with  two  itinerant  preachers  were  transported  for  seven 
years  for  merely  administering  an  oath  of  loyalty  to  members  of 
"The  Friendly  Society  of  Agricultural  Laborers." — Webb,  "History 
of  Trades  Unions,"  pp.   146,  70. 


COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING  189 

tinent  of  Europe  collective  bargaining  is  now  recog- 
nized as  the  legal  and  moral  right  of  the  workers. 
In  Germany  the  workers  are  legally  protected  by  an 
eight  hour  day  and  democratic  shop  committees  are 
required  in  every  factory. 

No  one  who  studies  the  history  of  American  or 
British  labor  can  fail  to  observe  their  advance  in 
improved  conditions  through  their  own  organized 
efforts.1  A  fair-minded  student  can  hardly  deny  the 
continued  need  of  labor  to  organize.  More  than 
half  of  the  people  of  the  world  are  still  underfed. 
The  vast  majority  of  workers  are  living  without  a 
home  of  their  own,  without  land,  tools,  or  any 
means  of  livelihood  save  the  casual  job,  and  with- 
out security  of  life  or  of  employment.  The  indi- 
vidual workman  is  helpless  against  the  collective 
power  of  a  huge  corporation  backed  by  its  vast 
aggregation  of  capital  and  linked  with  the  organized 
financial  and  industrial  power  of  the  employers  of 
the  country. 

The  advantages  of  collective  bargaining  to  the 
worker  cannot  be  denied.  It  aims  at  industrial  de- 
mocracy and  claims  the  right  of  a  voice  in  deter- 
mining the  condition  under  which  labor  shall  work. 
It  has  resulted  in  the  gradual  increase  of  wages,  the 

*In  December,  1920,  Samuel  Gompers  wrote:  "There  are 
5,500,000  organized  workers  in  the  United  States.  The  American 
Federation  of  Labor  has  a  membership  of  4,500,000.  The  railroad 
brotherhoods  have  a  membership  of  over  500,000.  There  are 
about  8,000,000  wage  earners  in  the  United  States  eligible  to 
membership  in  trade  unions.  Nearly  65  per  cent  are  organized. 
The  5,500,000  organized  workers  represent  27,500,000  people  or 
about  25  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  United  States."  Beman 
"The  Closed  Shop,"  p.  3. 


190  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

shortening  of  hours  of  the  working  day  from  twelve 
and  fifteen  down  to  an  eight-hour  day. 

We  recognize  the  misguided  policy  of  some  labor 
leaders,  but  to  seek  to  abolish  the  unions  because  of 
their  shortcomings  would  be  as  futile  and  as  fatal 
as  attempting  to  abolish  government  because  of  its 
many  failures.  Labor  has  no  right  to  injure  society 
in  general  in  order  to  help  its  own  interests  in  par- 
ticular. Labor,  like  capital,  must  be  held  respon- 
sible to  society  as  a  whole.  The  professional  agi- 
tator and  walking  delegate,  who  has  little  interest 
or  responsibility  in  the  common  enterprise  of  labor 
and  capital  in  an  individual  industrial  concern,  may 
stir  up  trouble  and  make  decisions  detrimental  to 
the  best  interests  not  only  of  the  community  as  a 
whole  but  even  of  labor  itself.  The  right  of  organi- 
zation, however,  is  a  fundamental  human  demand 
which  cannot  be  permanently  denied.  Indeed  or- 
ganization is  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the  develop- 
ment of  industry  itself.  In  its  very  nature  it  is 
cooperative  and  must  become  increasingly  so  as  it 
advances  in  efficiency.  No  laws,  no  compulsion,  no 
human  efforts  can  in  the  end  prevent  the  collective 
organization  of  men  either  in  corporations  pf  capi- 
tal on  the  one  hand  or  in  unions  of  labor  on  the 
other.  The  right  of  collective  bargaining  is  inher- 
ent in  the  evolutionary  development  of  human  society 
and  industry. 

This  right  is  becoming  increasingly  and  widely 
recognized.1     The  leading  religious  bodies  of  the 

1  See  the  Social  Ideals  of  the  Churches,  Appendix  II.    Ex-Presi- 
deat  Taft  says:    "The  principle  of  combination  among  workmen 


COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING  191 

United  States  recognize  this  right.  "The  Social 
Ideals  of  the  Churches"  adopted  by  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  the 
National  Catholic  War  Council,  and  the  Social  Jus- 
tice Program  adopted  by  the  Central  Conference  of 
American  Rabbis  recognize  the  right  of  labor  to 
organize  and  to  bargain  collectively  through  repre- 
sentatives of  its  own  choosing. 

is  indispensable  to  their  welfare  and  their  protection  against  the 
tyranny  of  employers."  Mr.  Herbert  Hoover,  Secretary  Hughes, 
Mr.  Roosevelt  and  a  long  list  of  leading  authorities  might  be 
quoted  as  vindicating  this  right  of  labor.  The  report  of  the 
President's  Second  Industrial  Conference,  the  Final  Report  of  the 
Federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  that  of  the  United 
States  Senate  Committee  on  the  Steel  Strike  and  the  United  States 
War  Labor  Board,  all  indorse  the  principle  of  collective  bargain- 
ing. See  pamphlet  "Collective  Bargaining,"  by  Kirby  Page,  for 
fuller  treatment  of  this  subject. 


XVIII 

THE  OPEN  OR  CLOSED  SHOP 

What  is  the   nature   of  the  "open  shop"  drive 
and  what  should  be  our  attitude  toward  itf 

The  terms  "open"  and  "closed"  shop  are  in- 
definite and  misleading.  For  fairness  and  clearness 
we  should  follow  the  Federal  Commission  on  In- 
dustrial Relations  and  use  the  terms  "union"  and 
"non-union"  shop.1 

During  the  period  of  financial  depression  and 
widespread  unemployment  when  labor  organization 
had  been  weakened  after  the  war,  the  country  wit- 
nessed a  nation-wide  open  shop  campaign  under  the 
banner  of  "patriotism  and  true  Americanism."  No 
doubt  many  employers  have  been  engaged  in  the 
movement  with  honest  motives  in  an  effort  to  pre- 

*"The  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  will  not  use  the  terms 
'open  shop'  and  'closed  shop,'  but  in  lieu  thereof  will  use  'union 
shop'  and  'non-union  shop.'  The  union  shop  is  a  shop  where  the 
wages,  the  hours  of  labor,  and  the  general  conditions  of  employ- 
ment are  fixed  by  a  joint  agreement  between  the  employer  and 
trade  union.  The  non-union  shop  is  one  where  no  joint  agreement 
exists,  and  where  the  wages,  the  hours  of  labor,  and  the  general 
conditions  of  employment  are  fixed  by  the  employer  without  co- 
operation with  any  trade  union." — Final  Report,  p.  365.  The  New 
Jersey  Chamber  of  Commerce  has  listed  nine  varieties  of  open 
and  closed  shops  as  follows:  (1)  closed  anti-union  shop,  (2) 
preferential  anti-union  shop,  (3)  open  non-union  shop  without 
shop  committee,  (4)  open  non-union  shop  with  shop  committee, 
(5)  open  indirect  union  shop,  (6)  open  union  shop,  (7)  preferen- 
tial union  shop,  (8)  closed  union  shop  of  an  open  union,  (9) 
closed  union  shop  of  a  closed  union. 

192 


THE  OPEN  OR  CLOSED  SHOP  198 

vent  what  they  regarded  as  the  tyranny  of  labor. 
Others,  however,  have  taken  advantage  of  the  op- 
portunity during  the  relative  helplessness  of  the 
workers  to  endeavor  to  break  the  unions.  The  bet- 
ter class  of  employers  recognize  that  this  may  have 
serious  consequences,  and  that  we  are  facing  a  crisis 
in  the  relation  of  capital  and  labor  today. 

We  would  gladly  recognize  the  earnest  efforts  of 
many  employers  to  find  a  just  solution  of  the  labor 
problem.  The  New  Jersey  State  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, in  a  report  made  public  January  31,  1922, 
advises  employers  to  keep  clear  of  the  various  "open 
shop"  movements.  The  report  shows  that  there 
are  three  roads  open  to  employers;  the  road  of  con- 
structive achievement  within  the  shop,  that  of  con- 
structive cooperation  between  organizations  of  em- 
ployers and  of  workers  and  that  of  the  "open  shop." 
This  last,  the  committee  says,  is  "undermining  the 
confidence  of  labor  in  employers,  and  ruining  the 
foundation  of  cooperation  between  them."  It  is 
pointed  out  that  similar  campaigns  in  former  periods 
of  depression  have  only  resulted  in  the  redoubled 
growth  of  unionism  and  adoption  of  extreme  meas- 
ures in  the  periods  of  prosperity  which  followed. 
The  various  religious  bodies  of  the  United  States 
have  also  condemned  the  open  shop  compaign.1 

1The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America 
declares  that:  "A  shop  of  this  kind  is  not  an  open  shop  but  a 
closed  shop — closed  against  members  of  labor  unions."  The  Na- 
tional Catholic  Welfare  Council  boldly  says:  "The  'open  shop' 
drive  masks  under  such  names  as  'The  American  Plan'  and  hides 
behind  the  pretense  of  American  freedom.  Yet  its  real  purpose 
is  to  destroy  all  effective  labor  unions,  and  thus  subject  the  work- 
ing people  to  the  complete  domination  of  the  employers."  Quoted 
in  "The  Open  Shop  Drive,"  pp.  45,  46. 


194  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

We  should  frankly  recognize  the  evils  which  are 
sometimes  incident  to  a  closed  union  shop.  Under 
the  misguided  direction  of  some  labor  leaders  such 
a  closed  shop  is  sometimes  used  as  a  means  of  un- 
justifiable despotism  and  tyranny  both  over  the  em- 
ployer and  over  non-union  working  men.  When 
unions  limit  output,  teach  men  to  "slack  on  the  job," 
assume  a  dictatorship  and  by  their  arbitrary  limita- 
tion increase  the  cost  of  production,  they  lose  the 
backing  of  public  opinion  and  ruin  their  own  cause. 

It  may  be  asked  upon  what  basis  the  worker  justi- 
fies a  union  shop.  He  would  probably  reply  some- 
what as  follows:  "A  shop  with  union  and  non-union 
men  half  organized  is  unstable  like  a  house  divided 
against  itself.  There  is  a  constant  attempt  on  the 
one  side  to  organize  it  entirely  and  on  the  other  to 
disorganize  it. 

"As  Lincoln  said:  'This  country  cannot  remain 
half  slave  and  half  free,'  so  the  unions  have  found 
that  industry  cannot  remain  half  organized  and  half 
unorganized.  There  must  either  be  a  non-union 
shop  under  the  paternal  control  of  the  employer  or 
a  union  shop  organized  on  the  basis  of  industrial 
democracy,  where  both  employer  and  employees 
shall  share  in  determining  conditions  under  which 
the  men  shall  work. 

"The  non-unionist  in  times  of  unemployment 
would  lower  wages  and  undercut  the  standard  of  the 
union  men.  He  shares  all  the  advantages  gained 
by  the  union  in  better  wages,  hours  and  conditions 
of  employment  without  sharing  the  responsibility 
for  paying  his  dues.     It  is  like  a  citizen  who  seeks 


THE  OPEN  OR  CLOSED  SHOP  195 

to  escape  paying  his  taxes.  Just  as  the  community 
uses  coercion  in  the  payment  of  taxes  for  the  wel- 
fare of  all,  so  does  the  trade  union.  Government 
itself  is  a  closed  shop  where  the  majority  rules  and 
coerces  the  minority.  Democracy  is  majority  rule. 
Labor  believes  in  government  and  industrial  democ- 
racy. The  local  shop  is  a  sphere  of  government,  a 
democratic  unit. 

"The  employers  were  the  first  to  organize  and 
act  collectively  in  corporations  and  trusts  and  un- 
organized individual  workers  are  helpless  before 
them.  They  themselves  require  that  every  stock- 
holder must  pay  his  share  and  if  he  is  to  vote  he 
must  have  at  least  one  share  of  stock.  Just  so  the 
unions  demand  that  members  shall  carry  their  share 
of  the  responsibility  and  to  vote  must  pay  their 
dues.  By  what  right  can  the  employers  claim  the 
right  of  collective  bargaining,  in  choosing  their  own 
representatives  where  they  will,  while  they  deny 
this  equal  right  to  labor,  which  is  in  the  vast  ma- 
jority and  needs  it  so  much  more?  The  employers 
have  an  overwhelming  concentration  of  capital, 
credit,  money-power,  law-making  power,  education, 
privilege,  organization.  We  have  nothing  but  our 
humanity.  Unorganized  we  must  accept  their  terms 
or  starve.  Organized  we  may  meet  as  two  equal 
parties  in  a  constitutionalized  industry  and  secure  a 
square  deal.  By  what  law,  moral  or  legal,  can  the 
right  to  organize  be  denied  to  us?  Just  as  profes- 
sional men  debar  other  members  of  their  profession 
for  unprofessional  conduct  and  maintain  their  stand- 
ards, so  labor  claims  the  same  privilege.     Society 


196  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

counts  that  to  be  right  which  most  benefits  the  whole 
community.  So  the  union  claims  the  right  to  insist 
on  those  conditions  which  are  necessary  for  the  wel- 
fare of  labor  and  of  the  community  as  a  whole.  As 
the  worker  owes  a  duty  to  society,  so  does  he  to  his 
class.  He  has  no  right  to  seek  his  own  selfish  gain 
at  the  expense  of  the  welfare  of  all  the  workers 
who  are  utterly  helpless  unless  they  stand  together." 
The  final  test  of  the  organized  or  unorganized 
shop  is  that  of  experience.  Professor  John  R.  Com- 
mons of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  out  of  his  own 
experience  as  a  worker,  contrasts  the  conditions  of 
the  printing  trade  under  the  union  shop  with  those 
of  the  steel  industry  under  the  "open  shop."  "Back 
of  the  demand  for  the  closed  shop  there  are  thirty 
or  forty  years  of  history.  The  workingman  knows 
what  his  condition  was  prior  to  the  closed  shop. 
.  „  .  Thirty-five  years  ago  I  worked  as  a  typeset- 
ter. .  .  .  Twelve  hours  a  day  for  fifteen  to  twenty 
dollars  a  week — this  was  the  prevailing  wage  for 
printers.  .  .  .  The  introduction  of  the  eight-hour 
day  instead  of  the  twelve-hour  day,  the  increase  of 
wages,  the  prevention  of  substitution  of  woman  and 
child  labor  for  skilled  mechanics;  this  is  what  the 
closed  shop  has  done  for  the  printing  trade.  .  .  . 
Now  compare  with  this  the  experience  in  another 
great  industry.  .  .  .  Down  to  1892  the  iron  and 
steel  industry  was  practically  a  closed  shop  industry. 
In  1892  came  the  great  Homestead  strike.  The  iron 
and  steel  workers'  union  was  defeated.  The  steel 
companies  then  adopted  the  non-union  policy  and 


THE  OPEN  OR  CLOSED  SHOP  197 

with  that  policy  they  adopted  the  twelve-hour  day 
and  the  seven-day  week." 

We  have  heard  it  said  that  now  is  the  time  to 
break  the  unions  and  undoubtedly  a  time  of  unem- 
ployment is  favorable  to  this  end.  We  saw  the 
Czar  try  it  in  Russia  and  succeed — for  a  time.  But 
after  a  thousand  years  of  suffering  and  five  cen- 
turies of  Czarism,  it  could  not  permanently  succeed 
even  in  downtrodden  Russia.  Bismarck  tried  to 
break  the  'unions  in  Germany,  but  backed  by  all  the 
power  of  Prussian  militarism  and  all  the  special 
laws  he  could  pass,  he  could  not  succeed.  England 
has  fought  out  that  battle  for  nearly  three  cen- 
turies but  labor  has  finally  won  the  undisputed  right 
to  organize.  Organization  is  inevitable  in  every 
department  of  life,  among  employers  and  employees 
alike.  We  conclude  that  the  "open"  non-union  shop 
cannot  be  successfully  maintained  in  Russia,  in  Ger- 
many, in  England  or  in  America.  We  believe  that 
the  "open  shop"  drive  is  as  dangerous  as  it  is  im- 
possible of  fulfillment,  for  at  the  end  of  the  day 
industrial  democracy  will  hold  the  field.  But  today 
we  are  facing  the  crisis  in  the  issue  between  the 
closed  and  the  open,  the  organized  and  unorganized 
shop  in  American  industry. 


XIX 

THE  SOCIAL  GOSPEL 

What  is  the  "Social  Gospel"  and  what  is  the 
social  function  of  the  Church f 

There  is  but  one  gospel,  but  it  has  two  aspects, 
the  individual  and  the  social,  two  hemispheres  of 
the  full-orbed  truth,  two  poles  to  complete  the  cir- 
cuit of  power.  Either  taken  alone  is  a  maimed 
fragment  cut  off  from  the  vitality  of  the  living  or- 
ganism. Social  service  that  does  not  contemplate 
the  regeneration  of  the  individual,  that  would  merely 
improve  his  outward  material  surroundings  would 
be  superficial,  shallow  and  impotent.  Likewise,  an 
exclusive  individualistic  emphasis  that  would  seek  to 
save  the  individual  with  no  reference  to  his  human 
relationships  and  social  obligations  is  equally  in- 
complete. Thus,  it  is  not  enough  to  save  the  souls 
of  a  few  slaves  while  the  social  evil  of  slavery  is 
dragging  down  its  millions.  We  must  both  save 
the  individual  slave  and  abolish  the  social  evil  of 
slavery.  It  is  not  enough  to  save  a  few  drunkards 
in  the  slum  missions  of  the  Salvation  Army,  while 
the  evil  of  drink  is  ruining  multitudes.  We  must 
save  the  individual  and  keep  him  from  drink,  but 
we  must  also  abolish  the  social  evil  of  intemperance 
and  keep  drink  from  the  man.     It  is  not  enough  to 

198 


THE  SOCIAL  GOSPEL  199 

save  a  few  individual  souls  in  the  poverty  of  the 
city  slums.  We  mush  abolish  the  slum  and  attack 
the  evil  of  poverty  and  social  injustice. 

The  individualist  may  hold  that  we  are  only  to 
win  men  one  by  one  by  simple  addition,  with  no  so- 
cial obligation  to  the  community;  to  pluck  brands 
from  the  burning,  but  not  to  try  to  put  out  the  fire 
that  is  destroying  them.  But  the  social  gospel  holds 
that  we  must  not  only  relieve  poverty  and  human 
misery  but  remove  their  causes;  that  we  must  not 
only  pluck  out  individual  brands  but  put  out  the 
fire  that  is  consuming  them;  not  only  reclaim  the 
prisoner  but  make  the  prison  an  instrument  of  so- 
cial redemption.  We  must  not  only  offer  the  pallia- 
tive of  charity  for  social  injustice  but  transform  the 
system  which  is  destroying  men — in  a  word,  we  must 
redeem  the  whole  of  life  and  all  its  relationships,  re- 
ligious, economic,  social,  political,  national  and  in- 
ternational. We  must  believe  that  no  social  good 
is  impossible  to  attain,  and  no  social  evil  impossible 
to  abolish. 

An  exclusive  individualistic  conception  sought  to 
save  separate  individuals,  to  get  them  "right  with 
God,"  prepared  for  a  future  heaven.  The  new  and 
wider  social  gospel  must  not  only  save  the  man  him- 
self, but  save  him  from  the  sin  of  selfish  isolation 
and  change  all  his  relations.  A  saved  individual 
is  one  in  harmony  with  God  and  his  redemptive  pur- 
pose for  man.  The  cross  is  not  the  symbol  of  a  sel- 
fish, personal,  possessive  salvation  for  the  future, 
but  a  way  of  life  for  the  present.  It  is  the  revela- 
tion of  the  redemptive  love  of  God,  giving  itself  for 


200  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

men  to  win  them  to  accept  not  only  God's  free  gift 
to  themselves,  but  sacrifice  as  the  principle  of  their 
lives  to  be  lived  out  in  service  for  others.  The  old 
individualistic  conception  sought  to  get  man  "right 
with  God,"  but  often  stopped  with  the  first  com- 
mandment to  love  God  without  including  the  full 
implication  of  the  second  to  love  his  neighbor  as 
himself. 

A  man  cannot  be  right  with  God  if  he  is  wrong 
with  men.  How  can  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not 
seen  if  he  does  not  love  his  brother  whom  he  hath 
seen?  If  he  is  wrong  with  men  he  must  "first  go  and 
be  reconciled"  with  his  brother,  whether  in  a  per- 
sonal quarrel,  an  industrial  strike  or  class  hatred 
arising  from  social  injustice.  Christ  states  his  own 
mission  in  social  terms  of  good  news  for  the  poor, 
release  for  captives,  sight  for  the  blind,  freedom 
for  the  oppressed,  and  the  year  of  liberation  when 
every  man  was  to  go  out  free,  back  to  his  God- 
given  inheritance  and  possession.  In  his  reply  to 
the  question  as  to  what  a  man  must  do  to  inherit 
eternal  life  he  shows  that  he  must  love  God  and  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  and  like  the  Good  Samaritan 
minister  to  needy  humanity.  His  standard  of  judg- 
ment at  the  last  day  is  measured  by  what  we  do  to 
our  fellowmen.  His  whole  teaching  is  summed  up 
in  the  realization  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  involving 
a  Christian  social  order,  based  upon  the  principle 
of  love.1  We  cannot  possibly  reconcile  the  King- 
dom of  God  with  the  poverty,  oppression  and  in- 
justice of  the  present  order.    Rather  we  must  change 

2Luke  4:18,  10:25-37,  Matt.  25:34-40. 


THE  SOCIAL  GOSPEL  201 

these  conditions  by  applying  Christ's  whole  gospel 
to  the  whole  of  life.1  The  social  gospel  is  as  old 
as  Isaiah  and  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  As  Wesley 
well  said,  "The  Bible  knows  nothing  of  solitary 
religion."  2 

We  cannot  accept  the  warning  of  business  inter- 
ests that  the  Church  must  "keep  out"  of  politics 
and  industry.  The  Church  cannot  forfeit  its  right 
of  participation  in  moral  issues  in  every  field.  It 
is  concerned  not  only  with  the  Christianization  of 
Africa,  but  of  industry  at  home.  It  must  give  heed 
not  only  to  how  men  give  their  money  but  to  how 
they  make  it.  The  ministry  cannot  abandon  its 
prophetic  function.  It  cannot  fail  to  apply  the  gos' 
pel  to  all  the  conditions  of  the  working  world  and 
to  the  wrongs  in  our  political,  social  and  industrial 
life.  Christ  is  the  light  of  the  world;  not  of  all 
save  industry,  or  politics,  or  any  other  special  pre- 
serve of  vested  wrongs.  He  must  be  Lord  of  all, 
or  he  is  not  Lord  at  all. 

We  do  not  exist  in  water-tight  compartments.  We 
must  not  only  make  better  individuals,  but  a  bet- 
ter world.  We  are  concerned  not  only  that  we 
should  sow  good  seed,  but  that  there  should  be  good 
ground,  without  an  environment  of  weeds  which 
choke  the  life  until  it  becomes  unfruitful.     We  con- 

1  Professor  J.  A.  Thomson  in  his  "System  of  Animate  Nature" 
shows  that  secure  progress  implies  a  correlation  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  organism  and  the  improvement  of  the  environment. 
"Lasting  betterment  must  be  realized  in  place  and  work  as  well 
as  in  people,  in  environment  and  function  as  well  as  in  organism," 
p.    619. 

See  F.  E.  Johnson,  "The  Social  Gospel  and  Personal  Religion," 
p.  49. 


202  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

ceive  the  Gospel  as  the  good  news  of  the  love  of 
God,  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ,  calling  men  to  repent 
and  turn  from  their  selfish,  individual  aims  and  to 
follow  Christ  in  loving  God  and  their  fellow-men, 
as  they  seek  to  found  a  Christian  social  order  called 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  which  is  an  enlarging  sphere 
of  life  redeemed  in  all  its  relations  and  environ- 
ment. We  are  facing  the  crisis  as  to  whether  we 
shall  have  a  whole  or  a  fragmentary  gospel  in  the 
church  today. 


XX 

THE  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION 

Are  there  any  fundamental  principles  which 
furnish  a  basis  for  the  solution  of  our  social  and 
industrial  problems?" 

If  we  seek  a  solution  of  the  foregoing  problems 
we  will  find  certain  principles  of  truth  and  of  right 
that  are  grounded  alike  in  reason,  in  conscience,  and 
in  experience.  Some  of  them  have  been  voiced  by 
the  great  philosophers;  some  have  been  taught  by 
the  moralists;  all  of  the  essential  principles  were 
taught  and  exemplified  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

He  views  all  existence  in  the  light  of  God  as  the 
loving  Father  of  all  men,  in  whom  life  finds  its 
origin,  worth  and  meaning.  He  sums  up  our  duty 
in  the  twofold  command  to  love  God  with  all  our 
heart  and  our  neighbor  as  ourselves.  Thus  we  are 
fully  to  share  our  life  with  God  and  man.  In  our 
social  relations  with  men  three  great  principles  are 
laid  down  in  his  teaching  as  basic  and  fundamental. 

In  the  love  and  purpose  of  God  each  man  is  of 
spiritual  worth.  We  might  call  this  the  principle  of 
Personality  or  the  incalculable  worth  of  every  indi- 
vidual human  life.  Second  in  the  relation  of  men  to 
each  other  Jesus  teaches  the  principle  of  Brother- 
hood, that  no  man  lives  by  himself  or  to  himself 

203 


204  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

alone,  but  that  all  men  are  bound  together  under  one 
Father  in  one  human  family,  mutually  related  and 
interdependent,  in  a  corporate  social  solidarity. 
Third,  this  relationship  between  men  is  fulfilled  not 
in  isolated,  independent  self-seeking,  but  in  mutual 
Service  as  the  expression  of  life,  realized  in  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  creative  and  social  functions  rather 
than  in  the  acquisitive  and  selfish  instincts  for  pri- 
vate gain. 

Based  upon  these,  and  following  naturally  as  cor- 
ollaries from  them,  are  three  other  principles  which 
are  also  fundamental.  Grounded  upon  the  worth 
of  the  individual  is  the  principle  of  Liberty  as  nec- 
essary for  the  development  of  personality.  Founded 
upon  brotherhood  is  the  principle  of  Justice  as  the 
equal  right  of  all  members  of  the  human  family. 
Based  upon  service  is  the  principle  of  Accountability, 
or  Responsible  Stewardship,  where  the  individual 
recognizes  the  rights  of  God  and  of  his  fellow-men; 
that  he  is  not  his  own,  but  that  his  life,  his  talents, 
and  his  possessions  are  held  in  trust,  and  that  he  is 
accountable  both  to  God  and  to  society  for  the  use 
of  his  possessions.  Finally  Jesus  sums  up  all  his 
teachings  in  the  great  commandment  of  Love,  as 
the  fulfillment  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  the 
essence  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  central  meaning  of 
life.  We  are  to  love  God  and  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves and  to  apply  this  all-embracing  principle  of 
Love  in  the  Golden  Rule,  to  do  to  others  as  we 
would  be  done  by.  We  thus  have  seven  fundamental 
social  principles  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus — Person- 
ality,  Brotherhood,   Service;  Liberty,  Justice,  Ac- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION  205 

countability;  summed  up  in  Love,  the  fulfillment  of 
them  all. 

Let  us  examine  these  seven  principles  and  ask  what 
is  their  application  to  the  social  and  industrial  prob- 
lems of  our  day. 

I.  PERSONALITY.  Jesus  teaches  the  incalcu, 
lable  worth  of  every  man  as  brother,  before  God  as 
Father,  whether  rich  or  poor,  white  or  black,  fel- 
low countryman  or  foreigner.  Man  is  a  child  of 
God,  made  in  his  image,  with  the  power  of  an  end- 
less life,  capable  of  infinite  development.  Man  is 
always  recognized  as  an  end,  never  a  means  to  an 
end.  He  is  worth  more  than  the  whole  material 
world.  We  are  especially  bidden  to  care  for  the 
lost,  the  poor,  the  disinherited,  the  unprivileged, 
the  stranger  or  foreigner  of  another  race.1 

1.  If  man  is  of  infinite  worth,  is  not  the  supreme 
test  of  industry,  and  of  every  other  institution, 
found  in  its  social  value,  its  effect  on  men,  whether 
it  makes  or  mars  manhood?  Thus  labor  is  more 
than  a  commodity;  it  is  more  than  a  means  to  the 
end  of  property;  it  represents  living  men  of  in- 
finite worth. 

2.  Should  not  the  first  charge  on  industry  be  the 
adequate  support  and  protection  of  all  the  workers, 
including : 

a.  A  standard  of  living  in  decency  and  com- 
fort? 

b.  Provision  for  continuity  of  employment  or 
social  insurance  against  forced  unemploy- 
ment? 

1Matt.  5:23;   16:26;   25:35-40;   Luke  15,  etc. 


206  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

c.  The  regulation  of  hours  for  the  social 
good? 

d.  Provisions  for  health  and  safety,  with  spe- 
cial safeguards  for  the  work  of  women  and 
children? 

A  practical  application  of  the  worth  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  found  in  the  growing  recognition  of  the  im- 
portance of  the  human  factor  in  industry  on  the 
part  of  the  more  progressive  employers  in  America 
and  Great  Britain.  The  work  of  Mr.  Seebohm 
Rowntree  in  the  Rowntree  Cocoa  works  of  York, 
England,  affords  a  good  example.  Over  half  of  the 
profits  of  the  firm  have  already  been  returned  to 
the  community,  invested  in  education,  investigation, 
a  model  village,  and  an  effort  to  raise  the  standard 
of  living,  not  only  for  his  own  employees  but  for  the 
labor  of  Britain.  He  says  he  would  prefer  to  have 
collective  bargaining,  recognizing  the  right  of 
workers  to  choose  their  own  representatives  in  or 
out  of  his  shop,  and  get  a  settlement  with  a  union 
based  on  justice  that  will  be  kept,  rather  than  to 
be  always  settling  difficulties  with  irresponsible  and 
discontented  labor.  Under  present  conditions  in  in- 
dustry, he  believes  in 

FIVE   LEGITIMATE  DEMANDS  OF 'LABOR: 

( I )  The  fixing  of  a  minimum  wage  for  all 
workers,  which  would  enable  a  man  to  marry,  to 
live  in  a  decent  home,  and  to  bring  up  a  family  of 
normal  size  in  a  state  of  efficiency,  leaving  a  rea- 
sonable  margin   for   contingencies   and   recreation. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION  207 

(2)  The  limitation  of  hours  of  the  working  week, 
and  a  bill  to  secure  a  forty-eight  hour  week  as  a 
maximum  for  all  England.  He  himself,  always  in 
advance  of  legal  requirements,  has  adopted  a  forty- 
four  hour  week.  (3)  Insurance  against  unemploy- 
ment which  shall  be  universal  and  compulsory.  It 
is  this  fear  of  unemployment  that  haunts  the  worker 
and  is  often  his  chief  cause  of  discontent.  On  an 
average,  only  five  per  cent  of  the  men  in  Britain 
are  out  of  employment.  Mr.  Rowntree  proposes 
a  plan  entered  into  by  the  workers,  the  employers, 
and  the  State  to  remove  this  fear  forever.  If  the 
worker  pays  one  per  cent  of  his  wages,  the  indus- 
try two  per  cent  of  the  wage  bill,  and  the  State 
makes  a  relatively  small  grant,  all  bona  fide  workers 
can  be  guaranteed  either  suitable  employment  or 
maintenance  on  at  least  half  wages  during  unem- 
ployment. Mr.  Rowntree  already  has  such  a  plan 
in  operation  in  his  own  factory.  (4)  To  give  the 
workers  some  share  of  democratic  control  in  deter- 
mining the  conditions  under  which  they  shall  work. 
He  has  already  instituted  a  series  of  industrial 
councils.  ( 5 )  Labor  should  have  a  larger  share  in 
the  product  of  industry,  and  more  adequate  remu- 
neration for  services  rendered.  To  secure  the 
workers'  cordial  support  for  increased  output,  he 
must  be  given  a  more  direct  interest  in  the  pros- 
perity of  the  business. 

II.  BROTHERHOOD.  Before  God  as  Father, 
we  are  brothers  in  one  human  family.  We  are  to 
love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  and  to  do  to  others 
as  we  would  be  done  by.     We  are  members  of  one 


208  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

social  organism,  bound  together  in  social  solidarity, 
mutually  dependent,  and  inevitably  affecting  one  an- 
other's welfare.1 

Does  not  Brotherhood  involve : 

i.  Friendly  relationship  each  for  all  and  all  for 
each,  the  sympathetic  knowledge  of  and  concern 
for  all  associated  in  industry,  employers  and  em- 
ployed alike? 

2.  The  recognition  of  brotherhood  as  embracing 
men  of  other  races,  the  Negro  and  the  foreigner, 
and  as  precluding  war,  lynching  and  imperialistic 
conquest  and  exploitation  of  weaker  races,  nations 
and  classes. 

3.  Cooperation,  precluding  selfish  competition 
based  primarily  upon  private  gain,  which  produces 
mutual  fear,  bitterness,  and  class  strife. 

Among  countless  illustrations  of  the  principle  of 
brotherhood,  we  may  take  the  great  Cooperatives 
of  Europe.  In  1844,  in  the  mutual  endeavor  to 
escape  debt  and  penury,  twenty-eight  humble  weavers 
of  Rochdale,  England,  started  a  Cooperative  Move- 
ment, each  investing  one  pound,  taking  turns  in  man- 
aging their  little  store.  Today,  instead  of  twenty- 
eight  men,  four  million  families  embracing  some 
fifteen  million  persons,  or  a  quarter  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Great  Britain,  are  enrolled  in  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  Cooperative  Societies  with  annual 
sales  of  over  a  billion  dollars,  and  a  bank  turnover 
of  two  billions,  or  an  amount  greater  than  the  annual 
budget  of  the  American  government  up  to  the  out- 
break of  the  war.    These  humble  toilers  by  mutual 

2Matt.  7:12;  Luke   10:29-37;  John  16:34. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION  209 

cooperation  have  not  only  escaped  debt,  but  now 
own  their  own  coal  mines  in  Britain,  their  wheat- 
lands  in  Canada,  their  tea  and  sugar  plantations  in 
India,  their  factories  for  the  making  of  clothing, 
shoes,  and  furniture,  their  fishing  fleets  and  dairy 
farms.  They  have  vindicated  the  practical  appli- 
cation of  the  principle  of  brotherhood. 

III.  SERVICE.  Service  is  the  highest  expression 
of  life  according  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  His 
purpose  was  to  minister,  not  to  be  ministered  unto. 
While  a  reasonable  profit  is  legitimate,  he  calls  all 
who  would  follow  him  to  this  dominant  aim  of 
service  rather  than  private  profit.  Whatever  we 
do  to  the  least  of  men,  whom  he  counts  as  his 
brethren,  we  do  to  him.  This  is  the  final  test  and 
judgment  of  our  life.1 

i.  If,  then,  service  is  the  supreme  expression  of 
all  life,  and  man  is  capable  of  responding  to  the 
highest,  should  not  the  dominant  motive  of  industry 
be  service  to  the  community,  rather  than  profit  to 
the  individual?  Should  not  production  be  primarily 
for  use  rather  than  for  private  gain? 

2.  Does  not  service  involve  the  maximum  devel- 
opment of  industry  for  the  social  good,  rather  than 
the  selfish  limitation  of  production  either  by  capital 
or  labor?  In  the  spirit  of  service,  neither  employers 
nor  workers  will  seek  to  get  a  maximum  and  give 
a  minimum,  but  both  will  aim  to  produce  the  maxi- 
mum for  the  common  good. 

It  would  be  an  insult  to  ask  what  profit  Wilber- 

•aMatt.  5:13-15;  6:19-35;  25:35-40;  Mark  10*45. 


210  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

force  made  in  the  freeing  of  the  slaves  of  Britain, 
or  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  emancipation  of  those 
in  America.  What  profit  did  Livingstone  make  in 
his  vast  service  for  the  Dark  Continent?  What 
profit  has  Herbert  Hoover  made  in  feeding  the 
starving  children  of  Belgium  and  the  Continent  of 
Europe?  He  is  poorer  by  a  large  fortune,  but  the 
world  is  richer  for  his  great  human  service.  Let 
each  individual  student  and  business  man  ask  whether 
service  or  profit  is  the  final  motive  that  dominates 
his  life  today.  Which  controls  our  ambition  for 
the  future,  the  amassing  of  a  fortune  for  personal 
profit,  or  the  measure  of  service  by  which  we  can 
enrich  humanity?  Are  we  seeking  primarily  to  get 
or  to  give;  are  we  living  for  selfishness  or  service, 
for  mammon  or  God?  Are  we  living  under  a  pagan 
or  a  Christian  conception  of  life?  Let  us  not  render 
idle  lip-service  to  Jesus  and  call  him  "Lord,  Lord," 
if  we  are  not  willing  to  do  the  things  he  says,  if  we 
are  going  out  merely  for  our  own  personal  profit 
and  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  afresh  in  the  least  of 
these  his  brethren,  the  hungry,  the  sick,  the  homeless, 
the  penniless,  the  unemployed. 

IV.  LIBERTY.  The  development  of  personality 
requires  freedom  for  self-realization,  self-expres- 
sion, and  self-determination.  "Lordship"  or 
"authority"  from  without  implies  the  repression  of 
personality,  treating  the  individual  as  a  thing  con- 
trolled by  and  for  another.  Jesus  in  his  opening 
sermon  at  Nazareth,  proclaimed  his  program  for 
humanity,  as  good  tidings  to  the  poor,  release  for 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION  211 

captives,  freedom  for  the  oppressed,  and  the  year 
of  jubilee  or  liberty  for  all.1 

1.  The  whole  history  of  humanity  shows  the 
development  of  the  idea  of  freedom.  The  test  of 
every  human  institution  is  its  development  of  "the 
good  life,"  whether  it  liberates  or  enslaves,  realizes 
or  represses  the  higher  life  of  man.  Christ  tests 
the  Law,  the  Sabbath,  Pharisaism,  and  the  institu- 
tions of  his  day  by  their  contribution  to  life.  His* 
great  work  was  to  liberate  from  bondage,  to  make 
men  whole  in  body,  mind,  and  spirit.  Centuries 
later,  in  the  light  of  his  teaching,  men  tested  slavery 
by  its  fruits  and  abolished  it.  In  like  manner  politi- 
cal liberty  was  gained  as  a  necessary  requisite  for 
man's  highest  development.  So  today,  we  must  test 
our  social  and  industrial  life.  Does  modern  industry 
develop  man  or  make  him  often  a  cog,  a  hand,  a 
machine,  a  commodity  to  be  bought  and  sold  in  the 
labor  market,  with  little  or  no  control  over  the  con- 
ditions of  his  industrial  life,  or  over  the  adequate 
sharing  of  its  production? 

2.  Does  not  the  liberty  of  the  individual  for  full 
development  exclude  the  autocratic  control  of  one 
person  by  another  and  require  the  gradual  growth 
of  democracy?  We  conceive  that  democracy  not 
only  applies  in  government,  but  that  all  of  wealth, 
education,  leisure,  culture,  art,  religion,  industry — 
in  short,  all  of  life — should  be  in  the  interest  of  all 
the  people,  growingly  administered  by  all  the  people, 
for  all  the  people. 

3.  If  men  are  more  than  a  commodity  or  a  mere 

*Luke  4:18;   Mark   10:42-45;   John  8:31-37;    10:10. 


212  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

means  to  an  end  for  the  profit  of  others,  have  not 
all  who  toil  in  industry  a  right  to  some  share  in 
determining  the  conditions  under  which  they  shall 
work? 

4.  Have  not  all  who  labor,  whether  as  employers 
or  employed,  the  right  to  organize  for  their  mutual 
protection  and  welfare,  or  is  this  the  right  of  em- 
ployers alone? 

5.  Under  the  principle  of  liberty,  have  not  all 
workers,  employers  and  employed  alike,  the  right 
to  choose  their  own  representatives  for  industrial 
conference?  Or,  should  the  workers  who  constitute 
the  large  majority  be  compelled,  uneducated  and 
inadequately  represented,  to  be  subject  to  the  auto- 
cratic control  of  a  minority  which  exercises  the  right 
of  collective  organization,  possessing  an  overwhelm- 
ing financial,  legal,  political,  and  commercial  concen- 
tration of  power,  which  it  denies  to  the  majority? 

From  the  first  chapter  of  the  Bible  which  contains 
the  Magna  Carta  of  human  liberty,  man  was  created 
"to  replenish  the  earth,  and  subdue  it;  and  to  have 
dominion,"  not  over  his  fellow-men  to  exploit  them, 
but  over  the  forces  of  nature  in  the  full  development 
of  his  free  creative  spirit.  For  many  centuries  man 
has  been  struggling  on  toward  the  realization  of 
this  God-given  heritage  of  freedom.  Yesterday, 
today,  and  forever  there  is  a  deathless  demand  in 
the  depths  of  his  soul  for  democracy,  for  liberty,  and 
for  justice. 

We  may,  by  coercive  laws  administered  in  the  in- 
terest of  a  special  class,  deny  the  right  of  men  to 
strike.     But  the  only  ultimate  prevention  of  strikes 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION  213 

is  the  justice  and  humanity  of  a  square  deal  for  alL 
Nor  can  the  measure  of  justice  be  determined  by  the 
privileged  minority  for  the  majority  whose  life  they 
do  not  share  or  understand. 

When  the  writer  asked  Mr.  Whitley,  founder  of 
the  Whitley  Councils,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, himself  a  great  employer,  his  views  concern- 
ing collective  bargaining,  he  replied,  "We  employ- 
ers in  Great  Britain  regard  collective  bargaining, 
or  the  right  of  workers  to  choose  their  own  rep- 
resentatives where  they  will,  as  both  inevitable  and 
desirable.  It  is  inevitable  and  cannot  be  success- 
fully resisted.  It  is  desirable  in  that  we  get  better 
results  by  the  cordial  recognition  of  the  unions,  by 
mutual  cooperation  and  good  will,  rather  than  by 
repression  and  the  denial  of  the  equal  rights  of  all." 

V.  JUSTICE.  Jesus  warns  against  the  folly  and 
wrong  of  the  selfish  accumulation  of  wealth.  He 
utters  his  woes  against  the  selfish  rich,  and  says  how 
hardly  shall  they  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God,  re- 
peatedly calling  men  to  give,  and  to  share  their  pos- 
sessions. He  bitterly  denounces  the  Pharisees  for 
their  neglect  of  justice  and  mercy,  for  their  covet- 
ousness  and  exploitation  of  the  poor.1 

i.  In  the  light  of  Jesus'  stern  denunciation  of 
the  selfish  accumulation  of  wealth,  and  of  failure  to 
relieve  the  poor,  can  we  justify  and  accept  as  final 
and  inevitable  the  present  unhealthy  congestion  of 
wealth  for  the  privileged  few  and  poverty  for  many 
in  the  unprivileged  class  of  society?  Is  it  Christian 
to  seek  to  grow  rich  in  a  poor  world? 

1Matt.   5:6;   23:23;   Mark  12:40. 


214  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

2.  Does  not  justice  involve  the  right  to  demo- 
cratic equality  of  opportunity  for  the  highest  and 
fullest  life  of  all,  whether  employer  or  employee, 
white  or  black,  rich  or  poor? 

If  justice  and  righteousness  are  fundamentals  in 
the  teaching  of  Jesus,  if  he  condemns  the  unlimited, 
selfish  accumulation  of  wealth,  and  arraigns  the 
Pharisees,  with  all  their  religious  zeal,  for  their 
neglect  of  justice  and  mercy,  their  covetousness  and 
exploitation  of  the  poor,  how  does  this  principle  ap- 
ply to  the  present  social  order? 

VI.  ACCOUNTABILITY,  or  Responsible  Stew- 
ardship. Jesus  constantly  teaches  that  God  is  the 
Author  of  all,  and  that  man  is  dependent,  account- 
able, responsible  as  a  trustee  or  steward,  for  his  life, 
his  talents,  and  his  possessions.  We  are  responsible 
to  God,  and  to  men  as  our  brother's  keeper.1 

1.  If  God  is  the  Owner  of  all  and  I  am  respon- 
sible for  my  fellow-members  of  the  social  organism, 
have  I  a  right  to  regard  what  I  possess  as  my  abso- 
lute personal  property?  Do  I  recognize  the  rights 
of  God  and  of  my  brother  men  in  my  possessions? 
Do  I  recognize  property  as  a  stewardship  for  which 
I  am  accountable  both  to  God  and  man,  and  for 
which  I  shall  be  judged? 

2.  If  all  values  are  dependent  upon  God's  nat- 
ural resources  or  are  socially  created  by  the  co- 
operation of  my  fellowmen,  have  I  a  right  to  the 
selfish  monopoly  of  the  fruits  of  the  toil  of  others? 

3.  If  I  have  the  privilege  of  possessing  property 
for  use,  have  I  the  right  of  property  for  power  over 

'Luke  16:10-14;  Matt.  25:35-40. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION  215 

the  lives  of  others,  such  as  shall  render  them  de- 
pendent upon  their  labor  as  a  mere  commodity  and 
deprive  them  of  full  self-determination  and  self-de- 
velopment? 

As  Bishop  Gore,  in  his  book  on  "Property,"  points 
out,  if  God  is  the  absolute  Owner  of  all,  and  the 
community  holds  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  we 
have  a  relative  and  dependent  trusteeship,  limited 
by  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  entrusted  to  us. 
Aristotle  maintains  the  principle  of  private  prop- 
erty as  necessary  for  the  full  realization  of  the 
higher  life  of  the  individual,  as  an  instrument  for 
the  development  of  personality.  But  our  present 
unjust  system  of  distribution  deprives  a  vast  ma- 
jority of  property  for  use,  in  home  or  shop,  in  lands 
or  tools,  and  concentrates  it  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
for  power  over  the  lives  of  multitudes  of  men. 
Bishop  Gore,  in  the  light  of  our  present  un-Christian 
and  unjust  system,  asks,  "Are  we  as  Christians  ready 
for  a  deep  and  courageous  and  corporate  act  of  sac- 
rifice and  restitution?" 

VII.  LOVE.  The  social  teachings  of  Jesus  are 
summed  up  in  the  all-inclusive  principle  of  love,  or 
self-giving.  He  views  the  world  in  the  light  of  the 
ideal  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  involving  the  moral 
organization  of  mankind,  summed  up  in  the  com- 
mand to  love  our  neighbor,  and  applied  in  the  Gol- 
den Rule,  to  do  to  others  as  we  would  be  done  by.1 

1Matt.  7:12;  22:36.  The  Golden  Rule  as  a  social  maxim  can 
be  thus  stated:  "I  wish  to  be  treated  as  a  person,  my  individuality- 
respected,  my  hopes,  aims,  efforts  appreciated,  my  failings  not 
excused  but  forgiven,  my  rights  generously  conceded.  I  never 
want  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  masses.  I  shall  therefore 
remember  that  each  other  person  feels  as  I  do,  and  comport  myself 


216  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

i.  If  the  Golden  Rule  is  the  end  of  the  Law  and 
the  Prophets  and  the  very  essence  of  the  Gospel, 
can  we  say  that  it  is  being  widely  applied  under  pres- 
ent conditions  in  society?  Are  we  prepared  to  ap- 
ply it  so  far  as  in  us  lies  in  our  personal,  social,  racial 
and  business  relations? 

Was  not  the  World  War  one  terrible  lesson  of 
the  result  of  failing  to  apply  these  principles  of 
Jesus  to  life?  Was  not  the  war  only  a  symptom 
of  the  underlying  strife  of  the  present  order? 
Peace  is  the  result  of  a  way  of  life  which  we  have 
largely  rejected  in  our  industrial,  social  and  politi- 
cal life. 

How  can  this  great  principle  of  love,  or  self-giv- 
ing, be  translated  and  incarnated  in  life?  Let  us 
take  an  illustration  of  an  Oxford  student,  Arnold 
Toynbee.  Instead  of  seeking  a  selfish  vacation  in 
idle  ease  and  pleasure,  he  went  down  one  summer 
into  the  London  slums  to  share  the  privilege  of  his 
education  with  those  to  whom  it  was  denied.  Such 
work  carried  on  by  Canon  Barnett  and  others  led 
to  the  founding  of  Toynbee  Hall.  Mr.  J.  J.  Mal- 
lon,  is  now  conducting  this  work  of  social  service, 
where  a  score  of  university  men  are  sharing  their 
education  with  the  unprivileged  mass  in  the  poverty- 
stricken  slums  of  London.  Knowing  their  conditions 
led  Mr.  Mallon  and  others  to  the  founding  of  the 
Anti-Sweating  League  which  has  largely  driven 
sweated  labor  from  Britain.  This  led  on  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Trade  Boards  Act.    Now,  instead  of  set- 

toward  him,  and  use  all  my  endeavors  that  society  shall  com- 
port itself  toward  him  with  respect  to  hi9  personality." — Soares, 
"Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the  Bible,"  p.  328. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION  217 

tling  wages  by  heartless  competition  with  the  most 
merciless  employer,  they  are  settled  by  legal  sanc- 
tion by  the  best  minds  of  England.  On  a  Trade 
Board  half  the  members  are  appointed  by  labor, 
half  represent  the  employers,  while  three  neutral 
experts  are  appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Labor  on 
behalf  of  the  government.  The  wage  scale  of  an 
entire  industry  is  thus  settled  impartially,  nation- 
ally and  legally.  Already  the  standard  of  living 
has  been  steadily  lifted  for  some  five  millions  in 
labor. 

Are  not  these  seven  principles  of  Personality, 
Brotherhood,  Service,  Liberty,  Justice,  Accountabil- 
ity, and  Love,  grounded  alike  in  the  authority  of 
conscience,  of  reason  and  experience?  Are  they  not 
the  only  ultimate  solution  of  the  crucial  problems 
of  the  age,  and  does  not  the  hope  of  the  world  lie 
in  our  applying  them  in  our  own  lives  and  to  the  pres- 
ent social  order?  Do  not  the  social  principles  of 
Jesus  stand  in  clear  contrast  with  much  of  the  prac- 
tice of  the  world  to-day,  in  the  ultimate  issue  between 
idealism  and  materialism,  God  and  mammon,  the 
Christian  and  the  pagan  view  of  life?  We  are  fac- 
ing the  crisis  of  a  choice  between  the  two. 

Christ's  Principles  Pagan  Practice 

1.  Personality  Possessions 

2.  Brotherhood  Strife 

3.  Service  Profit 

4.  Liberty  Repression 

5.  Justice  Injustice 

6.  Accountability  Irresponsibility 

7.  Love  Selfishness 


XXI 

MOTIVES  AND  OBJECTIVES  IN  LIFE  WORK 

What   motive  should   dominate   a   man    in    the 
choice  and  fulfillment  of  his  life  work? 

Generically  there  are  two  possible  attitudes  to  life, 
the  selfish  and  the  unselfish,  the  materialistic  and 
the  spiritual,  the  pagan  and  the  Christian. 

The  selfish  individual  has  exclusively  developed 
the  acquisitive  or  possessive  instincts  rather  than  the 
creative  and  social  faculties.  Men  who  are  domi- 
nated by  these  lower  motives  together  form  a  pagan 
society,  living  for  private  gain  or  profit,  for  personal 
power  or  success  rather  than  for  the  social  good. 
This  brings  the  struggle  of  each  self-centered  life 
into  inevitable  competition  with  other  selfish  indi- 
viduals with  resultant  strife.  This  conflict  takes 
place  between  individuals,  tribes,  social  classes,  in- 
dustrial groups,  races  and  nations,  and  whether  na- 
tional, racial  or  industrial,  finally  culminates  in  war. 
Such  warfare  is  always  latent  and  occasionally  overt 
in  a  pagan  society.  Our  semi-pagan  civilization  to- 
day is  characterized  by  constantly  recurring  warfare. 

Jesus  appeared  as  the  fulfillment  and  revelation 
of  life's  true  motive  and  purpose.  In  him  life  and 
love  are  consummated  in  self-realization  and  serv- 
ice for  others.    Life,  according  to  his  view,  does  not 

218 


MOTIVES  AND  OBJECTIVES  219 

consist  in  "things,"  possessions,  pleasures,  or  sensu- 
ous satisfactions,  but  in  the  sum  total  of  personal  re- 
lationships, human  and  divine.  Its  social  end  is  not 
an  isolated  individual,  the  dictatorshp  of  a  single 
class,  or  of  a  competing  nation.  The  ultimate  social 
organism  is  the  realm  of  God,  or  in  the  phrase  of 
H.  G.  Wells,  "the  common-weal  of  God,"  that  is,  a 
Christian  social  order  united  by  the  one  constrain- 
ing motive  of  love.  "Above  all  nations  is  human- 
ity." Men  who  are  united  in  following  his  way  of 
life  in  cooperative  good  will  transcend  the  three 
great  cleavages  of  the  modern  world  in  the  national, 
racial  and  class  strife  of  our  day. 

In  the  modern  world,  which  is  still  largely  selfish 
and  pagan  in  its  motives  and  standards,  individuals 
are  slowly  developing.  According  to  the  four  stages 
mentioned  by  Hegel,  there  is :  First,  the  individual 
living  in  himself,  primitive,  undeveloped  like  the 
babe.  Second,  the  individual  existing  for  himself, 
selfish  and  assertive,  seeking  his  own  partial  ends  re- 
gardless of  others,  typified  by  the  undisciplined 
youth.  Third,  the  individual  existing  for  others,  en- 
tering his  apprenticeship  in  service.  Lastly,  there  is 
the  mature  individual  in  himself  and  for  others,  in 
the  growing  self-realization  of  a  developing  person- 
ality, expressed  in  a  life  of  mature  service. 

The  individual  student  will  find  himself  today  in 
one  of  these  four  stages  and  he  will  be  dominated  by 
one  of  two  ultimate  motives.  Either  he  is  living  the 
selfish  life,  aiming  at  the  accumulation  of  private 
profit  in  money-making  for  his  own  power,  prestige 
or  success,  or  he  is  dominated  by  the  motive  of  un- 


220  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

selfish  love  and  may  enter  life  as  a  socialized  per- 
sonality, living  in  service  for  his  fellowmen. 

In  one  of  the  great  rifle  contests  at  Bisley,  a  con- 
testant had  one  more  target  to  make  to  win  the  cham- 
pionship. He  fired,  hit  the  bull's  eye,  but  lost  the 
match.  By  mistake  he  had  aimed  at  the  wrong 
target.  Many  a  man  misses  the  mark  because  he 
has  f aile4  to  find  the  meaning  of  life  and  is  not  aim- 
ing at  life's  true  end. 

The  aim  of  life  is  not  wealth.  Man's  essential 
nature  is  spiritual.  Aristotle  maintains  that  happi- 
ness is  found  in  the  harmonious  exercise  of  function, 
where  every  faculty  is  called  into  full  play  in  a  com- 
pletely developed  personality.  We  cannot  satisfy 
the  higher  nature  of  man  by  glutting  the  physical 
appetites  while  starving  the  soul.  UA  man's  life 
consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which 
he  possesseth."  The  millionaire  Beit  in  South 
Africa  died  of  worry.  He  had  so  many  diamond 
and  gold  mines,  so  many  stocks  and  bonds,  that  he 
could  not  sleep  at  night  for  fear  of  losing  some  of 
his  possessions.  They  were  not  really  his  posses- 
sions, for  he  did  not  possess  them,  but  they  him. 
Experience  shows  that  material  wealth  can  never  sat- 
isfy the  hunger  of  the  human  heart. 

The  aim  of  life  is  not  pleasure.  Epicurus  said, 
"We  call  pleasure  the  alpha  and  omega  of  the 
blessed  life."  From  the  Epicurean  Horace  and 
Lucretius  to  the  present  day,  hosts  of  men  have 
sought  to  realize  life  in  pleasure.  Byron,  writing 
in  early  manhood,  as  one  who  had  missed  the  mark 


MOTIVES  AND  OBJECTIVES  221 

and  failed  to  find  the  meaning  of  life,  voices  the 
experience  of  millions  when  he  says : 

"My  days  are  in  the  yellow  leaf, 

The  flowers,  the  fruits  of  love  are  gone; 
The  worm,  the  canker,  and  the  grief 
Are  mine  alone." 

Pleasure  fails  to  satisfy  for  the  same  reason  as 
wealth.  Feeding  the  physical  appetites  or  pamper- 
ing the  lower  nature  can  never  satisfy  the  craving  of 
the  soul  of  man,  for  the  soul  is  restless  until  it  finds 
full  life  in  the  harmonious  exercise  of  all  its  func- 
tions. 

The  aim  of  life  is  not  power,  prestige,  position, 
ambition  or  the  favor  of  man.  The  quest  for  power, 
as  Professor  Royce  shows,  is  necessarily  subject  to 
fortune.  It  brings  man  into  inevitable  conflict  with 
other  selfish  wills  and  leads  to  self-destruction.  The 
tragedies  of  the  world  have  been  found  in  seekers 
after  power.  "Tragedy,  comedy  and  the  wisdom  of 
the  ages  show  the  futility  of  the  lust  for  power." 

No  man  should  choose  his  life  work  save  from 
the  highest  motive  of  rendering  the  maximum  service 
to  his  fellow  men.  In  facing  the  crisis  in  the  choice 
of  his  vocation  the  student  stands  at  the  parting  of 
the  ways.  Is  his  choice  to  be  selfish  or  sacrificial, 
material  or  spiritual,  pagan  or  Christian?  Is  he 
to  follow  Judas  or  Christ,  is  he  to  seek  his  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  or  take  up  his  cross  of  sacrifice?  Is 
he  to  copy  the  rich  young  ruler  who  went  away  sor- 
rowful from  the  vision  of  a  life  of  service  because 
he  had  great  possessions  unconsecrated  and  unsur- 


222  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

rendered,  or  Paul  who  counted  all  things  loss,  that 
he  might  abandon  himself  to  the  venture  of  a  sublime 
sacrifice? 

Let  each  of  us  renounce  his  own  selfish  ambition 
and  yield  himself  in  complete  surrender  to  seek 
God's  will  for  his  life.  Huxley  wrote,  "Science 
seems  to  me  to  teach  in  the  highest  and  strongest 
manner  the  great  truth  which  is  embodied  in  the 
Christian  conception  of  entire  surrender  to  the 
will  of  God."  William  James  said:  "Self-surrender 
has  always  been  and  must  always  be  regarded  as  the 
vital  turning  point  of  the  religious  life.  One  may 
say  that  the  whole  development  of  Christianity  in 
inwardness  has  consisted  in  little  more  than  the 
greater  and  greater  emphasis  attached  to  this  crisis 
of  self-surrender." 

We  face  today  an  unprecedented  world  situa- 
tion. Humanity,  as  we  have  seen,  is  rent  in  three 
great  cleavages,  in  national,  racial,  and  industrial 
strife.  An  old  order  is  doomed  or  dying  all  about 
us — a  materialistic  order,  of  selfish  privilege  and 
competitive  force,  breaking  out  in  periodic  war. 
But  a  new  social  order  is  being  born  in  the  hearts 
of  men,  a  spiritual  order  of  life  and  love — of  life 
abundant  for  each  individual,  and  of  cooperant  good 
will  in  united  action  for  the  common  good. 

Can  we  not  discern  the  signs  of  the  times?  Here 
is  a  world  of  men,  suffering  under  social  injustice, 
industrial  exploitation,  race  prejudice,  imperialistic 
conquest,  and  militaristic  coercion.  And  here  and 
now  is  "one  clear  call  for  me"  to  a  life  of  service. 
If  any  man  would  respond,  let  him  deny  his  personal 


MOTIVES  AND  OBJECTIVES  223 

ambition  for  amassing  private  profit  for  special 
privilege  and  power,  and  taking  up  his  life  in  self- 
renunciation  and  dedication  to  the  common  good, 
seek  the  building  of  a  Christian  social  order,  by  foU 
lozving  Jesus'  way  of  life.  We  are  facing  the  crisis 
of  this  call. 


XXII 

CONCLUSION— THE  FAITH  OF  A  MODERN 
CHRISTIAN 

Is  there  any  practical  value  in  creeds,  or  are  they 
a  repressive  tyranny  of  the  past?  Can  a  modern 
Christian  form  a  working  faith  of  his  own  in  har- 
mony with   modern  science  and  philosophy? 

By  way  of  reply  the  writer  will  endeavor  to  make 
a  brief  statement  of  his  own  belief.  The  term 
"modern  Christian"  is  here  used  to  denote  one  who 
seeks  to  find  truth  rather  than  to  defend  tradition; 
one  who  accepts  the  method  of  evolution  discovered 
by  modern  science  as  the  way  of  God's  working  in 
the  natural  world;  one  who  adopts  the  principle  of 
historical  criticism,  seeking  by  patient  inductive  study 
to  ascertain  fact  at  whatever  cost;  one  who  lives  in 
the  freedom  of  the  spirit,  not  under  the  bondage  of 
external  compulsion,  and  who  finds  the  touchstone 
of  truth,  the  final  seat  of  authority,  not  in  any  ex- 
ternal institution  or  record,  but  in  God  as  revealed  in 
jesus. 

By  the  creed  of  a  modern  Christian  is  meant  not 
some  imposed  belief,  not  some  second-hand  tradi- 
tion which  one  must  repeat,  not  some  barrier  of 
prison  bars  beyond  which  one  may  not  pass,  but 
the  glorious  adventure  and  growing  achievement  of 
experience;  the  vital  and  enlarging  grasp  of  life. 

224 


CONCLUSION  225 

I.   I  BELIEVE  IN  GOD 

1.  I  believe  that  God  is. 

Because  of  the  total  demand  of  my  nature,  and  the 

demand  of  the  universe  for  an  adequate  cause, 

Because  the  God  whom  my  nature  demands  I  find 

revealed  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Because  the  God  whom  my  nature  demands  and  who 

is  revealed  in  Jesus,  I  find  verified  and  realized  in 

experience. 

2.  I  believe  that  God  is  good. 

Because,  although  I  see  much  evil  in  the  world  which 
at  first  sight  apparently  contradicts  the  good,  I  see 
growing  evidence  of  a  power  "not  ourselves  that 
makes  for  righteousness,"  dimly  in  nature,  more 
adequately  revealed  in  the  spiritual  capacity  of 
humanity,  and  finally  in  Jesus  Christ.  I  find  this 
belief  in  good  answered  by  the  deepest  intuition  of 
my  soul,  and  the  growing  verification  of  Christian 
experience.  I  believe  that  God  is  love  and  that  his 
infinite  care  embraces  the  wide  universe  and  each 
individual. 

3.  I  believe  that  God  is  mighty. 

I  believe  that  God  is  sovereign  and  all  powerful, 
though  self-limited  by  the  free  will  of  man.  I 
believe  that  God  is  able,  that  he  is  faithful  and  that 
he  effectively  cares  for  the  universe  and  for  me. 

I  believe  that  God  is  the  infinite,  personal  Spirit, 
who  is  the  source  and  ground  of  all  existence,  who 
creates,  sustains  and  guides  the  universe  according 
to  his  purpose.  Therefore  I  believe  that  the  universe 
is   friendly,   and  that  all  things  will  finally  work 


226  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

together  for  ultimate  good  to  those  who  are  in 
harmony  with  God. 

II.    I  BELIEVE  IN  JESUS  CHRIST 

1.  I  believe  that  he  is  unique. 

Unique  in  the  Bible,  as  the  consummation  of  the 
Old  Testament,  the  center  of  the  Gospels,  the  cul- 
mination of  the  Epistles. 

Unique  in  religion,  as  the  fulfillment  of  all  the  frag- 
mentary and  broken  aspirations  of  humanity. 
Unique  in  all  experience,  as  the  satisfaction  of  life's 
deepest  longings. 

2.  Unique  in  what  he  was  and  is. 

I  believe  that  he  is  unique  in  his  character,  its 
strength,  love,  wisdom,  purity;  its  balance  and  moral 
perfection;  unique  in  its  overwhelming  impression 
and  lasting  influence,  alike  upon  his  contemporaries 
and  upon  all  ages.  I  believe  in  his  risen  life,  and 
presence  and  power. 

3.  Unique  in  what  he  does. 

He  brings  God  to  man.  He  is  our  one  supreme 
revelation  of  God.  He  brings  God  to  man  in  his 
character,  as  God  revealed  in  a  human  life;  in  his 
teachings,  as  living  truth ;  and  in  our  personal  expe- 
rience, in  which  God  becomes  to  us  the  one  great 
reality.  Thus  I  find  in  Jesus,  "The  Likeness  of  the 
Unseen  God,"  the  revelation  of  the  Father. 

He  brings  man  to  God.  By  his  example,  as  he 
shows  the  way  to  God ;  by  his  teaching,  as  he  reveals 
the  meaning  of  life;  by  sharing  with  us  his  expe- 
rience of  God,  as  the  "Pioneer  of  Life,"  "the  first- 
born of  a  great  brotherhood." 


CONCLUSION  227 

But  finally  he  brings  men  to  God  through  his  death 
upon  the  cross.  I  believe  that  the  cross  of  Christ 
is  the  revelation  in  time  and  space  of  the  infinite 
and  eternal  element  of  self-giving  sacrifice  which  is 
the  essential  nature  of  God  himself,  as  love.  I 
believe  that  "God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself,"  that  in  his  cross  we  see  the 
very  suffering  heart  of  God.  I  believe  that  in  his 
death  there  is  a  revelation  of  the  holy  love  of  God, 
and  of  the  sin  of  man,  a  moral  influence  which  melts 
the  heart  and  moves  man  to  repentance,  and  finally, 
a  manifestation  of  the  all-loving  Father  suffering 
with  and  for  his  children. 

4.  Unique  as  the  Center  of  Life. 
I  believe  that  his  life  is  the  revelation  of  the  divine 
life  of  man,  and  of  the  human  life  of  God.  I  believe 
that  he  was  truly,  normally  and  utterly  human,  and 
as  such  a  normal  example  for  us.  I  believe  that 
I  find  in  him  true  man  and  very  God;  my  Saviour, 
my  Lord  and  my  Life. 

I  believe  that  all  human  experience,  in  philosophy, 
science,  art,  morality,  and  religion,  is  like  an  arch, 
broken  and  incomplete,  which  needs  the  single  Key- 
stone of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  supreme  revelation  of 
one  infinite,  loving,  intelligent  Will,  to  enable  us 
to  see  life  steadily,  to  see  it  whole,  and  finally  to 
realize  it  as  complete. 

III.    I  BELIEVE  IN  MAN 

I.  I  believe  in  man  not  only  as  he  is,  imperfect, 
but  in  the  light  of  his  divine  origin  and  ideal  end. 
I  believe  in  him  as  potentially  a  son  of  God,  who  can 


228  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

share  God's  life  as  his  fellow-worker;  a  son, 
redeemed  in  Christ  as  the  head  of  a  new  humanity, 
a  son  with  inalienable  rights. 

2.  I  believe  that  the  individual  man  is  of  infinite 
worth,  with  undreamed  latent  capacities  and  possi- 
bilities; worth  all  the  love  of  God,  worth  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ,  worth  the  whole  creation  of  which 
he  is  the  crown. 

3.  I  believe  in  a  life  abundant  that  includes  the 
two  poles  of  the  individual  and  the  social  as  coordi- 
nate and  complementary.  I  believe  in  personal  sal- 
vation, by  which  the  individual  accepts  his  relation 
to  God  as  Father  which  gives  him  the  glad  assur- 
ance of  sonship,  and  sends  him  out  to  win  his  brother. 

I  believe  in  social  salvation  through  Christ,  that 
includes,  not  only  the  transforming  of  the  individual 
in  all  his  relationships,  but  of  his  whole  environment 
as  well.  To  this  end  I  believe  that  we  must  spirit- 
ualize and  socialize  the  whole  of  life : 

Society,  that  its  members  may  become  truly  co- 
operative rather  than  selfishly  competitive;  recog- 
nizing their  responsibilities  rather  than  fighting  for 
their  individual  rights;  performing  their  functions 
rather  than  claiming  their  exclusive  possessions; 
sharing  their  opportunities  rather  than  appropriat- 
ing special  privileges; 

Industry,  that  we  may  recognize  that  its  end  is 
public  service  rather  than  private  profit;  for  a  high 
idealism  rather  than  a  sordid  materialism,  with  the 
ethical  standards  of  a  profession  rather  than  under 
the  lawless  instincts  of  the  jungle,  based  upon  the 
Golden  Rule  rather  than  upon  the  rule  of  gold; 


CONCLUSION  229 

Work,  as  a  divinely  appointed  discipline  of  charac- 
ter, a  sacrament  in  which  we  share  in  the  free  crea- 
tive activity  of  God,  for  the  end  of  human  develop- 
ment rather  than  material  accumulation,  to  make 
man  not  a  slave  of  a  machine,  but  a  fellow  worker 
with  God  in  the  service  of  his  fellow  men; 

Property,  as  stewardship  rather  than  ownership, 
not  as  the  absolute,  independent  and  exclusive  pos- 
session of  the  individual,  but  as  a  trust  relative  to 
the  ownership  of  God  and  the  rights  of  the  com- 
munity; with  private  property  for  use,  for  all,  rather 
than  for  power  for  the  few  over  the  dispossessed 
lives  of  the  many. 

IV.    I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  MEANS  OF  LIFE 

1.  /  believe  in  the  Bible. 

As  a  record  of  man's  experience  of  God  and  of 
God's  gradual  revelation  to  man. 

As  a  means  of  life,  a  springing  fountain  of  living 
water,  which  has  quenched  my  thirst  and  through 
which  I  have  found  Christ,  God,  life. 

I  believe  that  the  Bible  is  a  divinely  inspired  hu- 
man record  of  the  progressive  revelation  of  God  to 
man,  culminating  in  Jesus  Christ,  giving  us  the  high- 
est and  fullest  spiritual  knowledge  of  God  and  man. 
I  believe  that  its  inspiration  is  vital,  not  mechanical, 
that  it  is  the  record  of  lives  inspired  which  in  turn 
inspire  us  and  lead  us  into  the  life  of  God;  but  not 
mechanically  controlled  so  as  to  crush  the  full 
freedom  of  human  expression. 

2.  /  believe  in  Prayer  as  the  very  breath  of  the 


230  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

spiritual  life,  as  religion  in  act,  the  highest  activity 
of  the  human  spirit. 

I  believe  in  prayer  as  actual,  immediate,  spiritual 
fellowship  with  God  as  our  Father. 

I  believe  in  prayer  as  a  means  of  asking  and 
receiving  the  things  which  we  need,  which  are  accord- 
ing to  his  will,  and  as  intercession  for  our  fellow 
men. 

3.  /  believe  in  Service,  Sacrifice,  and  Suffering: 
In    service    and   human    toil   as    God's    divinely 

appointed  means  for  the  development  and  sharing 
of  life. 

In  self-sacrifice,  and  in  suffering  rightly  borne, 
as  the  great  discipline  and  purifier  of  life.  I  believe 
that  some  suffering  is  disciplinary,  to  warn,  instruct, 
and  develop  man;  some  is  remedial,  to  purge  him 
from  sin ;  some  suffering  is  redemptive  and  vicarious, 
the  innocent  suffering  for  the  guilty  in  order  to  save. 

4.  /  believe  in  the  Church. 

Because  I  believe  in  organization  and  cooperation 
in  all  realms  of  human  endeavor,  I  believe  in  the 
Church  as  a  divinely  authorized  human  means  for 
the  realization  of  a  Christian  social  order  called 
the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  Despite  all  its 
acknowledged  human  and  historic  imperfections,  I 
believe  in  the  ideal  of  the  Church  apostolic,  catholic, 
visible  and  united.  I  believe  not  only  in  the  spirit 
of  unity,  but  in  working,  without  sacrifice  of  prin- 
ciple, for  the  corporate  union  of  the  shattered  frag- 
ments of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

I  believe  that  the  Church  exists  not  primarily  as 
the  home  of  orthodoxy,  or  as  a  preparation  for  a 


CONCLUSION  231 

future  life;  not  as  a  spiritual  circle  of  special  privi- 
lege, or  for  the  perpetuation  of  traditional  forms 
and  ceremonies,  but  for  the  realization  of  the  life 
of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  and  for  cooperation  in 
strenuous  service  for  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  Jesus  to  all  realms  of  life  and  to  all  classes, 
races  and  nations  of  the  world.1 

1  See  Appendix  I. 


Appendix  I 

THE  FELLOWSHIP  FOR  A  CHRISTIAN 
SOCIAL  ORDER 


This  Fellowship  binds  together  .or  mutual  counsel,  in- 
spiration and  cooperation,  men  and  women  who  are  seeking 
to  effect  fundamental  changes  in  the  spirit  and  structure  of 
the  present  social  order  through  loyalty  to  Jesus'  way  of 
life. 

n 

We  believe  that  the  deepest  human  fellowship  has  its 
necessary  basis  in  fellowship  with  God  as  he  is  revealed 
in  Jesus. 

in 

We  believe  that  according  to  the  life  and  teaching  of 
Jesus,  the  supreme  task  of  mankind  is  the  creation  of  a 
social  order,  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  wherein  the 
maximum  opportunity  shall  be  afforded  for  the  develop- 
ment and  enrichment  of  every  human  personality;  in  which 
the  supreme  motive  shall  be  love;  wherein  men  shall  co- 
operate in  service  for  the  common  good  and  brotherhood 
shall  be  a  reality  in  all  of  the  daily  relationships  of  life. 


rv 

We  must,  therefore,  endeavor  to  transform  such  unchris- 
tian attitudes  and  practices  as  now  hinder  fellowship;  ex- 
travagant luxury  for  some,  while  many  live  in  poverty 
and  want ;  excessive  concentration  of  power  and  privilege 
as  a  result  of  vast  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few;  monopoly 
of  natural  resources  for  private  gain;  autocratic  control  of 
industry   by   any   group;   production    for   individual   profit 

233 


234  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

and  power  rather  than  for  social  use  and  service;  arrogance 
and  antagonism  of  classes,  nations  and  races;  war,  the  final 
denial  of  brotherhood. 


We  believe  that  in  the  spirit  and  principles  of  Jesus  is 
found  the  way  of  overcoming  these  evils,  and  that  within 
the  Christian  Church  there  should  be  a  unity  of  purpose 
and  endeavor  for  the  achievement  of  a  Christian  social 
order.  By  means  of  fellowship  in  thought  and  prayer  we 
come  to  understand  the  point  of  view  of  those  who  differ 
from  us,  make  possible  new  discoveries  of  truth,  and  aid 
one  another  in  the  solution  of  common  problems.  We  be- 
lieve that  social  changes  should  be  effected  through  educa- 
tional and  spiritual  processes,  especially  by  an  open-minded 
examination  of  existing  evils  and  suggested  solutions,  full 
discussion  and  varied  experimentation.  We  pledge  our- 
selves to  vigorous  activity  in  seeking  by  these  means  a  solu- 
tion of  the  social  problems  which  we  face. 

VI 

The  Fellowship  functions  through  personal  contact, 
correspondence,  group  meetings  and  periodic  conferences — 
local,  sectional  and  national.  Plans  for  action  resulting 
from  these  conferences  will,  so  far  as  possible,  be  carried 
out  through  existing  organizations,  or  in  some  manner 
independent  of  the  Fellowship,  since  its  office  is  not  ad- 
ministrative or  legislative.  The  Fellowship  does  not  plan 
to  conduct  classes,  open  forums,  conferences  or  kindred 
activities  for  non-members,  nor  to  pass  resolutions  of  any 
sort  or  go  on  record  as  endorsing  or  disapproving  any 
special  program  or  practice. 

VII 

In  our  desire  to  avoid  over-organization,  the  structure  of 
the  Fellowship  has  been  made  as  simple  as  possible.  There 
is  a  National  Committee  of  50  members,  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  20  members,  an  Executive  Secretary,  and  a  Con- 
vener of  each  local  group.  The  members  of  each  group 
shall  meet  together  from  time  to  time  without  formal  or- 


APPENDIX  235 

ganization.     The  minimum  of  necessary  expense  is  met  by 
voluntary  gifts. 

vra 

Men  and  women  who  agree  with  the  principles  outlined 
herein,  and  who  desire  to  co-operate  with  those  of  like  mind 
and  purpose,  are  invited  to  become  members  of  the  Fellow- 
ship for  a  Christian  Social  Order.1 

Appendix  II 
THE  SOCIAL  IDEALS  OF  THE  CHURCHES 

I.     Equal  rights  and  justice  for  all  men  in  all  stations 
of  life. 
II.     Protection  of  the  family  by  the  single  standard  of 
purity,  uniform  divorce  laws,  proper  regulation 
of  marriage,  proper  housing. 

III.  The   fullest   possible   development    of    every   child, 

especially  by  the  provision  of  education   and 
recreation. 

IV.  Abolition  of  child  labor. 

V.     Such  regulation  of  the  conditions  of  toil  for  women 
as  shall  safeguard  the  physical  and  moral  health 
of  the  community. 
VI.     Abatement  and  prevention  of  poverty. 
VII.     Protection  of  the  individual  and  society  from  the 
social,  economic,  and  moral  waste  of  the  liquor 
traffic. 
VIII.     Conservation  of  health. 

IX.  Protection  of  the  worker  from  dangerous  machin- 
ery, occupational  diseases,  and  mortality. 
X  The  right  of  all  men  to  the  opportunity  for  self- 
maintenance,  for  safeguarding  this  right  against 
encroachments  of  every  kind,  for  the  protection 
of  workers  from  the  hardships  of  enforced  un- 
employment. 

1  Those  desiring  further  information  or  wishing  to  start  a  local 
group  to  consider  these  social,  industrial  and  religious  problems 
should  write  to  the  secretary,  Mr.  Kirby  Page,  311  Division  Street, 
Hasbrouck  Heights,   New  Jersey. 


286  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

XI.     Suitable  provision  for  the  old  age  of  the  workers, 
and  for  those  incapacitated  by  injury. 
XII.     The  right  of  employees  and  employers  alike  to  or- 
ganize; and  for  adequate  means  of  conciliation 
and  arbitration  in  industrial  disputes. 

XIII.  Release  from  employment  one  day  in  seven. 

XIV.  Gradual  and  reasonable  reduction  of  hours  of  labor 

to  the  lowest  practicable  point,  and  for  that 
degree  of  leisure  for  all  which  is  a  condition 
of  the  highest  human  life. 
XV.  A  living  wage  as  a  minimum  in  every  industry,  and 
for  the  highest  wage  that  each  industry  can 
afford. 
XVI.  A  new  emphasis  upon  the  application  of  Christian 
principles  to  the  acquisition  and  use  of  prop- 
erty, and  for  the  most  equitable  division  of  the 
product  of  industry  that  can  ultimately  be 
devised. 

In  1919  in  the  midst  of  a  new  industrial  unrest  and  in 
the  light  of  the  many  lessons  of  the  war  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil reaffirmed  the  social  creed  and  adopted  four  additional 
resolutions  which  are  in  the  nature  of  a  present  day  inter- 
pretation of  the  above  "Creed"  itself: 

1.  That  the  teachings  of  Jesus  are  those  of  essential 
democracy  and  express  themselves  through  brotherhood  and 
the  cooperation  of  all  groups.  We  deplore  class  struggle 
and  declare  against  all  class  domination,  whether  of  capital 
or  labor.  Sympathizing  with  labor's  desire  for  a  better 
day  and  an  equitable  share  in  the  profits  and  management 
of  industry,  we  stand  for  orderly  and  progressive  social  re- 
construction instead  of  revolution  by  violence. 

2.  That  an  ordered  and  constructive  democracy  in  in- 
dustry is  as  necessary  as  political  democracy,  and  that  col- 
lective bargaining  and  the  sharing  of  shop  control  and 
management  are  inevitable  steps  in  its  attainment. 

3.  That  the  first  charge  upon  industry  should  be  that 
of  a  wage  sufficient  to  support  an  American  standard  of 
living.  To  that  end  we  advocate  the  guarantee  of  a  mini- 
mum wage,  the  control  of  unemployment  through  govern- 
ment labor  exchanges,  public  works,  land  settlement,  social 


APPENDIX  237 

insurance  and   experimentation   in   profit   sharing  and   co- 
operative ownership. 

4.  We  recognize  that  women  played  no  small  part  in 
the  winning  of  the  war.  We  believe  that  they  should  have 
full  political  and  economic  equality  with  equal  pay  for  equal 
work,  and  a  maximum  eight-hour  day.  We  declare  for 
the  abolition  of  night  work  by  women,  and  the  abolition 
of  child  labor;  and  for  the  provision  of  adequate  safeguards 
to  insure  the  moral  as  well  as  the  physical  health  of  the 
mothers  and  children  of  the  race. 

Appendix  III 

BOOKS  ON  CURRENT  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

Christianity  and  Economic  Problems 

Federal  Council  of  Churches $  .50 

The  Church  and  Industrial  Reconstruction 

Cloth,  $2.00 ;  Paper l.oo 

The  Acquisitive  Society 

R.  H.  Tawney    1 .50 

The  Social  Principles  of  Jesus 

Walter  Rauschenbusch    1.15 

Industry  and  Human  Welfare 

William  L.  Chenery 1.75 

The  Coming  of  Coal 

R.  W.  Bruere 1.00 

The  Iron  Man 

Arthur  Pounds 1.75 

The  Christian  View  of  Work  and  Wealth  .85 

The  Social  Function  of  the  Church 

Malcolm   Spencer I.OO 

The  New  Social  Order 

H.   F.  Ward 2.50 

Labour  in  the  Commonwealth 

G.  D.  H.  Cole 1.50 

Property 

Bishop  Gore  and  others 2.00 

Economics  for  the  General  Reader 

Henry   Clay 2.00 

Denmark  (On  Rural  and  Agricultural  Problems) 

Frederick  C.  Howe 2.00 


238  FACING  THE  CRISIS 

PAMPHLETS  ON  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

America:   Its  Problems  and  Perils 

Sherwood  Eddy $.10 

Industrial  Facts 

Kirby   Page io 

Collective  Bargaining 

Kirby   Page io 

The  United  States  Steel  Corporation 

Kirby   Page io 

The  Sword  or  the  Cross 

Kirby   Page 15 

Incentives  in  Modern  Life 

Kirby   Page 10 

The  Wage  Question 

Federal  Council  of  Churches 10 

The  Coal  Controversy 

Federal  Council  of  Churches 10 

The  Social  Gospel  and  Personal  Religion 

F.  Ernest  Johnson 25 

The  Labor  Spy 

Sidney  Howard 15 

PERIODICALS  TREATING  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

The   Survey    $5.00  per  year 

112  East  19th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
The  Nation    $5.00  per  year 

20  Vesey  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
The  New  Republic $5.00  per  year 

421  West  2 1  st  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

The  Christian  Century $4.00  per  year 

(Ministers,  $3.00  per  year) 

508  So.  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
The  World  Tomorrow $1.00  per  year 

396  Broadway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
The  Literary  Digest $4.00  per  year 

354  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
All  of  these  Books  and  Pamphlets  may  be  secured  throuah 

ASSOCIATION  PRESS 

347  Madison  Avenue  New  York,  N.  Y. 


INDEX 


Accountability,  214. 

American  Federation  of  Labor, 

189. 
Aristotle,  29,  32. 
Attention,   143. 
Augustine,  55,  71,  142. 

Begbie,  135. 
Bergson,  106. 
Bevan  on  prayer,  124. 
Bible,  97  ff.,  229. 
Bibliography,  237  ff. 
Bliss,  General,  178. 
Booth,   135. 
Brandeis,  Justice,  184. 
Brown,  Chas.  R,  103. 
Browning,  40. 
Brotherhood,  207,  228. 
Bryce,  Lord,  166. 
Buckle,  in. 
Buddha,   24,   29,   154. 
Butler,  Bishop,  94. 
Byron,   220. 

Cabot,  Richard,  146,  180. 
Carlyle,  68. 
Carver,  Prof,  170. 
Chesterton,  48. 
Christ,  15  ff. 
Christian,  132. 
Christian  Solution,  203  ff. 
Church,  230. 
Clarke,  Prof.,  50. 
Cole,  G.  D.  H.,  179. 
Coleridge,  99. 

Collective  Bargaining,  187  ff. 
Commons,  John  R.,  196. 
Commission  on  Industrial  Rela- 
tions, 179,  192. 
Concentration,  182. 
Confucius,  29,  153. 


Conversion,  131  ff. 
Cross  of  Christ,   19,  41,  72-76, 
227. 

Darwin,  52,  112. 

David,  142. 

Death,  82. 

Divinity  of  Jesus,  15-45. 

Dorsey,  Governor,  168. 

Dowie,   115. 

Eddy,  Arden,  84. 
Emerson,  99,  178. 
Environment,  31. 
Epicurus,   220. 
Erskine,  56. 
Esau,  143. 
Eucken,  52. 

Evil,  Problem  of,  65  ff. 
Evolution,  no  ff. 
Experience,  41. 

Faith   of   a   Modern    Christian, 

224  ff. 
Federal    Council    of    Churches, 

i93»  235- 

Fellowship  for  a  Christian  So- 
cial Order,  233   ff. 

Fiske,  John,  69,  82. 

Foreign  Born,  165. 

Foreign  Missions,  151  ff. 

Fosdick,  H.  E.,  79,  83. 

Francis  of  Assisi,  71. 

Genesis,  118. 
Gladden,  W.,  34. 
God,  47  ff.,  81,  88,  124,  225. 
Goethe,  82. 
Golden  Rule,  216. 
Gompers,  Samuel,   189. 
Gore,  Bishop,  58,  60,  113. 
Gwatkin,  103,  155. 


239 


240 


FACING  THE  CRISIS 


Hadfield,  Capt.,  92. 

Hankey,  Donald,  48. 

Headlam,  A.  C,  93. 

Hegel,  155. 

Heine,  99. 

Hibbert  Journal,  95. 

Hinduism,  29,  153. 

Hocking,  63. 

Hogg,  A.  G,  92. 

Hohenzollern,   163. 

Horse,  117. 

Horton,  R.  F.,  20,  107. 

Hume,  94. 

Huxley,  95,  222. 

Ignorance,  30. 
Immortality,  77  ff. 
Imprecatory  Psalms,  101. 
Industrial  Unrest,  179  ff.,  228. 
Inequality,   185,   186. 
Inter-Church  Report,   180. 
Inter-Racial  Committees,  168. 
Islam,  154. 

James,  Prof.,  127,  128,  135,  139, 

149,  222. 
Jesus  Christ,  15  ff.,  226. 

Achievements,  28,  31  ff.,  88. 

Character,  16. 

Keystone,  the,  37  ff. 

Relationships,  25. 

Resurrection,   80,   89. 

Summary,  45. 

Teaching,  21,  101,  108. 
Judaism,  153. 
Justice,  213. 

Kant,  56. 

King,  Pres.   H.   C,   66,   89,   93, 

146,   149. 
King,  W.  I.,  183. 
Klein,  H.  H.,  183. 
Knox,  G.  W.,  93. 
Ku  Klux  Klan,  168. 

Last  Judgment,  72. 
Lecky,  31,   178. 
LeConte,  III. 
Liberty,   210. 
Lincoln,  194. 
Lodge,   Sir  Oliver,  95. 


Love,  215. 
Luther,  112. 
Lynching,  166. 

McCheyne,  107. 
Mahan,  Admiral,  173. 
Man,  227. 

Manly,  J.  Frank,  31. 
Masefield,  134. 
Materialism,  49,  51. 
Mathews,  Basil,   156. 
Micou,  R.  W.,  93. 
Mill,  John  Stewart,  25. 
Miracles,  87  ff. 
Missions,   Foreign,   151    ff. 
Moral  Mastery,  140  ff. 
Motives,  218   ff. 
Mii  Her,  Geo.,  107. 

National  law,  122. 

Negro  problem,    172. 

New   Jersey   State   Chamber  of 

Commerce,  193. 
New  Testament,  25. 

Omar  Khayyam,  66. 

Open  or  Closed  Shop,  192  ff. 

Paley,  94. 

Pan-African  Conference,  169. 

Pantheism,  43. 

Pascal,  55,  135. 

Personal  Testimony,  60. 

Personality,  205. 

Philosophy,  39. 

Plato,  29,  32,  60. 

Piatt,   Frederick,  93. 

Poor,  29. 

Poverty,  184. 

Prayer,  122  ff.,  229. 

Prescott,  73. 

Property,  229. 

Proofs  of  God,  52. 

Psychology,  57,  141. 

Race  Problem,   165  ff. 
Religion,  79,  151  ff. 
Religious  Education,  185. 
Revelation,  100  ff. 
Robinson,  James  Harvey,  116. 
Rowntree,  Se^bohm,  206. 
Rutherford,  Samuel,  107. 


INDEX 


241 


Sacrifice,  230. 

Sanday,  Dr.,  89. 

Saunders,  133. 

Science,  78. 

Seeley,  Prof.,  92. 

Service,  209. 

Shakespeare,  71. 

Sick,  29. 

Sinful,  30. 

Slavery,   28. 

Smuts,   General,   163. 

Soares,  T.  G.,  34,  216. 

Social  Gospel,   198   ff. 

Social   Ideals  of   the   Churches, 

235  ff. 
Social  Questions,  161  ff. 
Socrates,   32,  71. 
Sorely,  W.  R.,  58. 
Spencer,  51,  106. 
Spirit,  The,  92. 
Spy  System,  180. 
Stokes,  Anson  Phelps,  172. 
Streeter,  B.  H.,  93,  128. 
Suffering  and  the  War,  76,  230. 
Suffering,  65  ff. 

Taft,  Ex-President,  166,  190. 
Tagore,  158. 
Tammany  Hall,  164. 
Taylor,  Hudson,  109. 


Teaching  of  Jesus,  21-24. 
Temple,  Wm.,  39. 
Tennyson,  47,  92. 
Tertullian,  91. 
Thomson,  J.  A.,  93,  201. 
Tolstoi,  48,  54. 
Tuskegee,  170,  171. 
Twelve   Hour   Day,   162. 
Tyndall,  51. 

Voliva,  Wilbur,  115. 

War,  Ethics  of,  173  ff. 
Washington,  Booker,  170. 
Wealth  and  Poverty,  182  ff. 
Webb,   188. 
Welldon,  Bishop,  25. 
Wellington,   104. 
Wells,  H.  G.,  23,  165. 
Wesley,  John,  112,  201. 
White,  Andrew  D.,  112. 
Wilson,  Woodrow,   107. 
Wilberforce,  140. 
Womanhood,  29. 
World's    Christian    Federation, 
27. 

Yerkes  Telescope,  38. 

Zion,  111.,   115. 


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